Classroom lesson 路 Wildlife馃嚥馃嚲 Malaysia

The proboscis monkey

The big-nosed swimming monkey, found only on Borneo

A male proboscis monkey sitting in a tree, showing off its big drooping nose

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The proboscis monkey is one of the funniest-looking animals on Earth. Males have a huge, droopy, balloon-shaped nose that flops down over their mouth. They have orange-pink fur and round potbellies. They live wild on only one island in the world - Borneo - including in Malaysian Sabah and Sarawak.

Tell me more

The males' enormous nose is not a mistake - it is what makes them attractive. The bigger and droopier the nose, the more impressive a male is to other monkeys. The nose also acts like a microphone, making their honking calls louder and deeper across the forest. Females have smaller, neater noses.

Proboscis monkeys are amazing swimmers. They live in the mangrove forests where Borneo's rivers meet the sea, and they often jump straight out of the trees into the water with a giant splash. They have partly-webbed fingers and toes that help them paddle. They can even swim underwater for short distances.

Their orange-pink colouring makes them look a bit like they have an permanent suntan. Their round bellies are not because they over-eat - they are full of helpful bacteria that break down leaves. Proboscis monkeys eat mainly leaves and unripe fruit, which is hard to digest. Their special stomach is a built-in factory.

Visitors to Borneo's rivers often see whole families of proboscis monkeys lined up on branches at sunset, like an audience at the cinema. The babies have blue-grey faces and tiny noses that slowly grow bigger as they get older. Conservation groups in Malaysia work hard to protect their mangrove homes.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a bigger nose be useful for an animal that calls across a forest?
  2. 02Swimming monkeys! What other surprising things have you heard animals do?
  3. 03Many animals look very different as babies. Why might that be?
Try this

Classroom activity

Each pupil draws a 'proboscis monkey' family - one big-nosed dad, one neat-nosed mum, and one tiny baby with a blue face. Add a river under their tree and show one monkey doing a giant cannonball splash.