Saki The One

[Nathen Paisley]

Toenhance the national response to sexual assault through the development and delivery of training and technical assistance to practitioners implementing a comprehensive and victim-centered approach.

Provide training and technical assistance on addressing unsubmitted sexual assault kits, forensic testing strategies for sexual assault evidence and victim-centered investigations and prosecutions for sexual assault cases.

Unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) create delays in the justice system and, in some instances, deny justice to sexual assault survivors. SAKI is a national program dedicated to creating a coordinated community response to sexual assault and violent crime through a comprehensive and victim-centered approach that builds jurisdictional capacity to support the effective submission and testing of sexual assault kits while implementing sustainable strategies for the effective investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases and violent crime. Through the SAKI project, victims are supported through the healing process with advocacy services while jurisdictions implement best practices for violent crimes response reform improving public safety by bringing just resolution to these cases whenever possible.

The SAKI Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) program supports coordinated teams of law enforcement, prosecutors, crime laboratory professionals, sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs), forensic medical personnel, and victim and family advocates. SAKI TTA provides evidence-based, victim-centered, and sustainable practices; these practices help with collecting and processing forensic evidence, investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases, and supporting sexual assault survivors. SAKI TTA offers the support that jurisdictions need to navigate the unique challenges associated with an improved response to sexual assault and violent crime.

In support of SAKI, RTI leads a collaborative team of distinguished partners who represent relevant areas of expertise and interest; these partners include law enforcement officials, forensic medical personnel and SANEs, prosecutors, sexual assault response researchers, victim advocacy professionals, crime laboratory analysts, and curriculum development personnel.

Our project activities enhance the understanding of sexual violence and trauma for law enforcement officials, forensic medical professionals, and prosecutors; additionally, such activities bolster the capacity of these groups to address sexual assault and respond in meaningful ways to sexual assault victims. Since the SAKI program began, grantees inventoried 203,552 sexual assault kits (SAKs) and sent 95,140 SAKs for testing.

Our team also partners with law enforcement officials, forensic scientists, and legal stakeholders to collaborate and provide the necessary skills, tools, and knowledge to effectively investigate and prosecute sexual assault crimes. As of 2024, we have conducted more than 100 webinars, produced more than 45 written briefs, and provided over 100 TTA events (on-site and virtually), reaching over 3,000 attendees. Additionally, we created the SAKI Toolkit and SAKI Virtual Academy, which are web-based resources designed to create customized curriculum supporting the SAKI holistic approach to sexual assault response reform.

The SAKI Toolkit (opens in new window) offers hands-on resources tailored for the community of practitioners working to respond to cold case sexual assault. Toolkit users can explore key categories of sexual assault response reform, browse topics centered around skill development, and save tools to a customizable dashboard known as the briefcase.

The SAKI Virtual Academy (opens in new window), an online learning platform, offers five e-learning curricula covering the key steps to sexual assault response reform. The curricula are broken out into a total of 24 separate e-learning modules to allow learners to complete courses at their own pace. Throughout each course, learners complete knowledge checks and case study challenges to assess their comprehension of the course content.

SAKI TTA routinely educates more than 6,900 national sexual assault response professionals through briefs, SAKI Toolkit, Virtual Academy, and webinars. All SAKI TTA materials are housed on the SAKI TTA website (www.sakitta.org) and are available to all agencies for free.

Pale-headed saki monkeys, or white-faced saki monkeys, are named for the male's appearance. Males are black except for the head, which is white or reddish, while females are mostly brown to brown-gray, with paler bellies, and have bright white to pale red stripes extending from each eye to the corners of the mouth.

They live in secondary, ridge, savanna and marsh forests, usually at elevations of 688 to 2,460 feet (210 to 750 meters). They move through the forest both quadrupedally and by leaping. They are wholly arboreal, but sometimes descend to the lower limbs of trees or even to bushes in search of food.

Duet vocalizations between males and females are important in maintaining territorial boundaries, as well as the social bond between pairs. They may also raise their hair and jump up and down on branches while emitting a loud, shrill, territorial call.

Pale-headed sakis eat mainly fruit, and they have robust incisors and canines to break through the tough skins and shells. They also eat seeds, nuts, leaves and insects, especially ants. They are an important seed disperser for many plants.

Sakis live in monogamous pairs or small family groups of two to five animals. Juveniles may stay with their parents for up to a year or two after the birth of the next infant. These small groups may come together to form larger congregations.

The breeding season in the wild is not clearly known. Births in human care occur throughout the year. The estrous cycle lasts 18 days, and gestation is five months, after which a single baby is born. Mothers carry infants on their hip for the first month and then the baby rides on her back.

Saki monkeys are usually seen alone or in pairs. However, they sometimes will live in groups of up to twelve. They are arboreal, meaning they spend their lives in the trees and rarely come to the ground.

Only male saki monkeys have white faces, while females have dark faces. Their fur is thick, coarse, shaggy, and long which protects them from the weather in the rain forest. Their lower front teeth are specialized for opening nuts and tough fruits in order to obtain the large nutritious seeds hidden within. This allows them to eat unripe fruit not palatable to most primates.

White-faced saki males have, as their name already indicates, white faces. However, the females do not and have a more beige/black face with orang malar (cheek) lines and greyish mottled coat. The males have a black coat. Both males and females have a thick, waterproof coat with long hairs. This coat protects them from the tropical rain showers in their wild habitat in Suriname.

White-faced saki can make vertical jumps. This looks incredible: with their strong legs and feet they launch themselves into the air and land gracefully on a vertical tree trunk. They can run over branches with high speed (even with their arms raised) and can dangle from their feet. White-faced sakis are relatively shy and quiet animals. However, during mating season or to guard their territory, they can make a very loud call. In case of a predator or threat, they keep still and wait for the danger to pass. White-faced sakis are diurnal and arboreal, spending more time in the lower canopy and understory compared to other sakis of their genus.

The birth season of white-faced sakis is between November and April. Offspring is born with the same coat colouration as the female. After several weeks the young males will start to change colour and develop their white/creme-coloured faces. Most often the female takes care of the young. In the first month, the young saki will cling to its mother in ventro-ventral position or on her thighs, but after that the female carries the young on her back. After four months the infant can walk independently, but the female will still nurture her offspring. After six months offspring are fully grown. Females become fertile after two years of age and for males this is three years. Usually the offspring will leave their natal group after three years, but in between they may have a chance to experience the birth of a sibling. This way they can learn how to take care of their own offspring from their parents. Quite useful!

At this moment, white-faced saki populations do not seem to be substantially threatened in the wild. However, there is a continuing decline of mature individuals. Little is known about their actual numbers in the wild, but threats like deforestation and illegal hunting will most probably be a problem for this species, just as this is the case for many other animal species living in their habitat.

At Apenheul we housed two groups of white-faced sakis. Both groups live in the free-roaming areas, and can therefore run freely among visitors. One of the groups is housed near the insect wall and the other duo near the gorilla-island. Apenheul is part of the EAZA Ex Situ breeding programme (EEP) for the white-faced saki. Together with other zoos, we actively strive to maintain genetically healthy and demographically stable populations for this species in zoos.

White-faced sakis live in small family groups. After an average 146-day pregnancy, females give birth to one brown infant. At two months, young males begin changing color from brown to black with white faces. Females remain brown into adulthood.

The Saint Louis Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Program for white-faced sakis. We support a group in the Primate House and Primate Canopy Trails at the Zoo. Learn more about our conservation efforts.

White-faced sakis prefer solid limb supports in the lower to middle canopy levels of the forest, although they are occasionally found on the ground or emergent layer. They are seen mostly in monogamous pairs with young, but are very flexible in their social organizations and can live in groups of up to 12 with multiple males and females of breeding age.

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