WILD LIFE: Howler Monkeys is a collection of stereo recordings of Yucatan black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) captured in their natural habitat. Howler monkeys are considered to be the loudest land mammals, their roars reaching up to 140dB. They have hollow and enlarged hyoid bones which amplifiy their bellowing calls, allowing them to communicate with other monkeys at long distance even through dense jungle. The Yucatan black howler monkey is the largest of all howler monkey species, and potentially the loudest.

This creature sound effects library is perfect for portraying howler monkeys in a realistic way. It’s also excellent as sound design material for all kinds of purposes including creature and monster sound design for film, video games and other media. Just make sure you check out the demos to see exactly what you are getting in terms of background noise and ambience. While I did the best I could to get close to the monkeys, I didn’t want to spook or stress them too much so I mostly relied on drop rigs to capture their sounds. As a result there will occasionally be some rain or insect sound in the background of the recordings.

This howler monkey creature sound effects library took many months of research, planning, listening, recording, editing and mastering. As a general rule, howler monkeys live in very noisy environments which makes recording their calls quite challenging. It took me many years before I identified a few locations where the insect chorus was quieter so that it wouldn’t mask the calls of the howlers. I was lucky enough to work with conservation NGOs and researchers that offered access into locations that are normally off-limits for tourists.

Download file list here.

At a glance:

• 30 STEREO .wav files

• recorded and presented as 24 bit/96 kHz

• more than 94 minutes of content

• 3.13 GB uncompressed size

• recorded with Sennheiser MKH8018 and Lom mikroUsi microphones

Library graphics: