GUENONS
GUENONS
The largest group of African primates, the guenon genus, Cercopithecus, includes at least thirty-three species and forty-seven subspecies. The genus Allochrocebus has three species and two subspecies.
TERRESTRIAL GUENONS
Genus: Allochrocebus
Allochrocebus lhoesti
CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE
The L’Hoest’s monkey, also known as the mountain monkey, can be found in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, and western Uganda. It is unknown just how far south their range extends, but they are likely also present along the eastern bank of the Congo River. There are isolated…
Allochrocebus preussi
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The Preuss’s Monkey is endemic to various regions in southwest Cameroon, southeast Nigeria, and Equatorial Guinea. This species comprises two subspecies: the Cameroon Preuss’s monkey (A. p. preussi) found on the mainland, and the Bioko Preuss’s monkey (A. p. insularis) found only on Bioko Island, in Equatorial Guinea…
Allochrocebus solatus
CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE
Endemic to central Gabon, sun-tailed monkeys are believed to occupy a range of about 9,700 square miles (25,300 sq km), an area about the size of Vermont. They live in mature mixed forests and sometimes secondary lowland moist forests and prefer altitudes between 460 and 3,220 feet (140–980 m). Because… undergrowth.
ARBOREAL GUENONS
Genus: Cercopithecus
Cercopithecus mitis
CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN
The blue monkey, also known as the diademed monkey, is an Old World primate that is distributed widely across Africa in a large variety of environments. This arboreal guenon species dwells high in the canopy of contiguous and fragmented lowland and montane tropical moist forests, riverine and gallery forests, delta and…
Cercopithecus campbelli
CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED
Native to numerous countries along the western coast of Africa, Campbell’s mona monkeys, also called Campbell’s monkeys and Campbell’s guenons, are right at home in a wide variety of habitats, including primary and secondary lowland forest, gallery forest, mangroves, woody savannas, and even areas used for agriculture…
Cercopithecus pogonias
CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED
The crowned monkey—also known as the crested mona monkey, crowned guenon, golden-bellied guenon, or the golden-bellied monkey—is found in west central Africa, particularly from the Cross River in Nigeria and southern Cameroon to Angola (Cabinda) and east into the Central African Republic. They are also present…
Cercopithecus neglectus
CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN
The De Brazza’s monkey, also known as the De Brazza’s guenon, the Ayatollah monkey, or the swamp monkey, is a shy and watchful African monkey. Named for Italian-French naturalist and explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, the species earned its scientific designation, neglectus, from its ability to hide and successfully…
Cercopithecus denti
CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN
Dent’s monkeys, also called Dent’s mona monkeys, are Afro-Eurasian monkeys native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and possibly Burundi, though populations here have yet to be confirmed. They are bounded to the north by the Uélé River, to the west by the lower Itimbiri River, to the east by…
Cercopithecus diana
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The Diana monkey, also known as the Diana guenon, is found primarily in the forest regions of Upper Guinea in West Africa. Specifically, the species ranges from coastal southeastern Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and southern Côte d’Ivoire west of the Sassandra River. The Diana monkey lives in the canopy of primary and older…
Cercopithecus dryas
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The Dryas monkey, also known as Salonga monkey, ekele, inoko, the Dryad monkey, Dryas guenon, and Salonga guenon, is one of the least known monkeys in Africa. Virtually everything about the monkey, from their range, to their reproductive habits, to their behavior, is not fully understood, and in some cases, not…
Cercopithecus hamlyni
CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE
The Hamlyn’s monkey is also known as the owl-faced monkey or guenon. This elusive and vulnerable primate lives at high altitudes of 3,000–15,000 ft (900–4,500 m) in dense bamboo and primary forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. These forests are surrounded by rivers and volcanoes, which…
Cercopithecus petaurista
CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED
Lesser spot-nosed guenons are native to western Africa, residing in the countries of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, and, possibly, southeastern Senegal. These enchanting primates belong to the family known as Cercopithecidae, and they go by several aliases: lesser white-nosed…
Cercopithecus lomamiensis
CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE
The lesula is an African monkey, residing in the Lomami Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their range is between the Lomami and Tshuapa rivers, in central Congo. Their habitat consists of mature, lowland rain forests. These forests are humid, and consist of tall evergreen trees, Gilbertiodendron dewevrei. They…
Cercopithecus lowei
CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE
Lowe’s monkeys are native to the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) and Ghana. They live in both protected and unprotected areas, with home ranges estimated between 1.5 to 40 hectares (3 to 98 acres). Lowe’s monkeys, also called Lowe’s guenons or Lowe’s mona monkeys, are terrestrial and can be found in tropical forest environments…
Cercopithecus mona
CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED
The mona monkey is also known as the mona guenon. It is found in the tropical rainforests of West Africa, spanning a range from Ghana to Cameroon. The mona monkey’s range is focused in the Niger River delta, where they are the most common monkey in the region’s mangrove forests. This species has adapted to a…
Cercopithecus cephus
CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN
Moustached guenons, also known as moustache monkeys, are native to western Africa. Their geographic distribution begins south and east of the Sanaga River and extends to the banks of the Congo/Ubangi river system. The region where the Congo River empties into the Atlantic Ocean was once thought to be a natural…
Cercopithecus nictitans
CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED
Putty-nosed monkeys, also known as greater spot-nosed monkeys, white-nosed guenons, or greater white-nosed monkeys, occupy a wide range of dense forest habitats in western and central Africa, including moist tropical lowland forests, montane forests, swamp and mangrove forests, and dense gallery forests. They…
Cercopithecus erythrogaster
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
Red-bellied monkeys, also known as red-bellied guenons, white-throated monkeys, and white-throated guenons, are endemic to southwestern Nigeria, the Nigerian Delta, southern Benin, and Togo. They live in fragmented forest patches of primary, secondary, and riverine lowland moist forests, or in semi-deciduous or swamp…
Cercopithecus erythrotis
CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE
The red-eared guenon, also known as the russet-eared guenon or red-eared monkey, is a denizen of Africa. This shy primate’s restricted range extends from the Cross River in southeastern Nigeria to south of the Sanaga River in Cameroon. The species also inhabits the island of Bioko, 20 mi (32 k) off of Africa’s west coast, in…
Cercopithecus ascanius
CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN
The red-tailed monkey is a species of guenon native to central Africa. Other common names include the black-cheeked white-nosed monkey and the red-tailed guenon. Their home range extends throughout the Central African Republic and the Congo, with southern Sudan as the northern boundary and northern Zambia as…
Cercopithecus roloway
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Roloway monkeys, also known as Roloway guenons, are Old World monkeys endemic to Ivory Coast and Ghana. In the thick canopies of moist, old-growth, lowland, and swamp forests, they remain fantastically out-of-sight. Their elusive natures, combined with the complicated terrain of their habitats, makes tracking…
Cercopithecus sclateri
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The Sclater’s guenon, also known as the Sclater’s monkey and the Nigerian monkey, is endemic to southern Nigeria, from the eastern Niger Delta to the Cross River State. The furthest north its range extends is Anambra-Enugu State and central Ebonyi State. Eleven small populations have been confirmed to exist in the states…
Cercopithecus wolfi
CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED
The Wolf’s guenon, also known as the Wolf’s mona monkey, is native to the central basin of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in west-central Africa. Their particular habitats within this region consist primarily of mature-growth forests and secondarily of newer-growth lowland rainforests and swamp forests….