COLOBUS MONKEYS

The Colobus genus includes at least six species and seventeen subspecies. The Piliocolobus genus included seventeen species and two subspecies. The Procolobus genus includes one species.

BLACK AND WHITE COLOBUS

Genus: Colobus

Colobus angolensis

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

More than any other African monkey, the Angolan colobus, Colobus angolensis, also called the Angolan black-and-white colobus, is exceptionally adapted to a life lived almost exclusively in the tree canopy. A leaf-loving primate with a body built for tree-hopping acrobatics, this Old World monkey thrives in a variety of forest types…

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Photo credit: ©philbenstead/iNaturalist/Creative Commons

Colobus satanas

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

Black colobus monkeys are endemic to the forests of Equatorial Guinea, southwest Cameroon, Congo and northwestern Gabon. Some are also found on Bioko, a small island off the coast of Cameroon in the Gulf of Guinea. There are two subspecies, the Bioko black colobus (Colobus satanas satanas), only found on Bioko…

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Colobus guereza

CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN

The guereza colobus monkey, also known as the mantled colobus, eastern black-and-white colobus, magistrate colobus, and by several other variations of the common name, occupies a widespread geographic area that stretches across central Africa. The species’ distribution extends in an easterly direction…

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Colobus polykomos

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The king colobus, also known as the western black-and-white colobus, is native to the tropical lowland and montane rainforests on the western coast of Africa, from Gambia to Côte d’Ivoire. They have a strong preference for primary forest, and only rarely inhabit secondary forests or habitats that are degraded…

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Colobus polykomos

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The Mount Kilimanjaro guereza is a species of Old World monkeys endemic to northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. In Tanzania, they reside in and near the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro (Kilimanjaro National Park) and Mount Meru (Arusha National Park). In Kenya, they are known to occur only in two small and degraded…

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Colobus vellerosus

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The white-thighed colobus, also known as Geoffroy’s black-and-white colobus monkeys and ursine colobus monkeys, is one of the world’s 25 most endangered primates and is endemic to West Africa—specifically Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. Previously found in Burkina Faso, it is now thought to have…

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OLIVE COLOBUS

Genus: Procolobus

Photo credit: Nik Borrow/Flickr/Creative Commons

Procolobus verus

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The olive colobus, also called green colobus and Van Beneden’s colobus, is endemic to the western coast of Africa, living in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo. An isolated population can also be found in eastern Nigeria. Olive colobus monkeys live in the rainforest habitat where they prefer the…

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RED COLOBUS

Genus: Piliocolobus

Piliocolobus tephrosceles

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The ashy red colobus, also known as the Ugandan red colobus, lives in the jungles of western Uganda and western Tanzania along the eastern border of the Great Rift Valley. There are only about 20,000 ashy red colobuses alive today. Their population is severely fragmented and only five subpopulations are currently…

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Photo credit: David dO-Schaapsmans/Flickr/CreativeCommons

Piliocolobus foai

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The Foa’s red colobus, also known as the Central African red colobus monkey, is endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo. They prefer rain and mountainous forest habitats and can be found at altitudes ranging from 2953 to 9186 feet (900…

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This is the closely related Pennant’s red colobus, of which the Niger River red colobus was once considered a subspecies. Photo credit: ©nathanaelstanek/iNaturalist/Creative Commons

Piliocolobus epieni

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The Niger Delta red colobus is native to southern Nigeria. Historically, they occupied about 580 square miles (1,500 square km) of land between the Forcados-Nikrogha Creek and the Sagbama-Osiama-Agboi Creek in the Niger Delta. However, they have since experienced massive habitat and population loss, and exist only in small…

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Photo credit: ©nathanaelstanek/iNaturalist/Creative Commons

Piliocolobus pennantii

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Red colobus monkeys have been called the most threatened taxonomic group of African primates. The Pennant’s red colobus is, sadly, no exception. The species is Critically Endangered and regularly featured on the list of the 25 most endangered primate species in the world. These monkeys are endemic to Equatorial Guinea…

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Piliocolobus preussi

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The Preuss’s red colobus is an African monkey native to western Cameroon and a small section of southeastern Nigeria. They make their homes among high canopies in dense rainforests, and they spend the majority of their time in the upper canopy. Because of illegal hunting and severe threats to their habitats, Preuss’ red…

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Piliocolobus rufomitratus

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The Tana River red colobus is a species of red colobus monkey endemic to the evergreen forests growing along the lower Tana River and Tana River Delta in Kenya. This region’s more arid climate supports significantly less biodiversity of plants and trees than the wet rainforests of East and Central Africa that all other…

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Piliocolobus tholloni

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The Tshuapa red colobus is endemic to the African nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC. There is little known about their true range. Their distribution is broken up across the Congo basin where the habitat is mostly continuous tropical rainforest. It would seem that the Congo and Lomela rivers form boundaries of their distribution, but many expeditions to locate Tshuapa red…

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Piliocolobus gordonorum

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

As the name suggests, the Udzungwa red colobus is found exclusively in the Udzungwa Mountains in central Tanzania, a country in eastern Africa. Other common names for this species include Uzungwa red colobus and Irinea red colobus. This monkey is just one of many species endemic to the isolated…

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Piliocolobus badius

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

You’ll find the western red colobus monkey—also known as the bay red colobus, rust red colobus, and Upper Guinea red colobus—in the tropical rainforests of coastal West Africa. The species’ geographic distribution ranges from southwestern Senegal and the Gambia, south and east to the Nzi-Bandama River system in western….

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Piliocolobus kirkii

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The Zanzibar red colobus, also called the Kirk’s red colobus monkey, is endemic to Ungula, the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania. This mainly tree-dwelling species is found in three forests within the island and prefers drier areas over wetter ones. The habitats of Zanzibar red colobuses include…

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