COLOBUS MONKEYS
COLOBUS MONKEYS
The Colobus genus includes at least seven 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
OLIVE COLOBUS
Genus: Procolobus
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…
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…
Piliocolobus foai
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
Piliocolobus kirkii
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
Red colobuses are Old World monkeys that are indigenous to Unguja—-the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania—as well as the islands of Uzi and Vundwe. The species has been extirpated from Bambi, Jendele, Kichwele, and Nungwi forests in the last 35 years. They may have once lived…