Species Fact Profile: Black-and-White Colobus (Colobus guereza)

                                                          Black-and-White (Guereza) Colobus

Colobus guereza (Ruppell, 1835)

Range: Northern Central Africa, from Nigeria and Cameroon in the west to Kenya in the east, the northern Democratic Republic of Congo in the south to northern Ethiopia in the north

Habitat: Forests, ranging from lowland tropical rainforest to montane forests up to 3300 meters, Wooded Savannas.  Most abundant along rivers

Diet: Leaves, Fruit, Blossoms

Social Grouping: Troops of 8-15, usually a single breeding male, 3-4 breeding females, and their young.  Males defend a territory about 30-40 acres in size, but in very ideal habitat can be found in very dense numbers (500 monkeys per square kilometer)

Reproduction:  Breed year round, but with a peak occurring so that young are weaned when there is the most solid food available.  Females solicit males by smacking their lips and lying prone.  Single baby born after 6 month gestation, clings to parents' stomachs for 8-9 weeks, at which point it is weaned.  Females may nurse each other's young.  Females stay in their natal group, males disperse upon reaching sexual maturity.

Lifespan: 20-30 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern, CITES Appendix II

•       Head and body length 45-72 centimeters, with a tail length of 52-100 centimeters.  Weight 7.8 – 13/5 kilograms.  Slightly sexually dimorphic – males are about 20% larger than females.
•       Each hand has only four digits.  The thumb is either absent completely or only represented by a small vestigial tubercle, which sometimes is covered with a fingernail.  It has been theorized that the absence of a thumb allows the animal to move more quickly through the trees
•       Coat is glossy black, with a U-shaped mantle of white on the sides, as well as a ring of white fur surrounding the face.  The tail is either whitish or yellow in color with a large white tuft at the end of the tail.  The face is bare of fur and is gray.  Juveniles are pure white for the first few weeks of life.  All-white adults have been reported in Mt. Kenya, but not confirmed
•       Primarily arboreal, though in habitats with widely spaced trees, they will come to the ground both to feed and to travel from tree to tree.  Usually move through trees quadrupedally, sometimes leaping between branches.  Relatively slow and clumsy on ground
•       Active by day, but spend large amounts of time (about 50% of day) resting, probably a result of their low-energy diet.  Groups sleep at night in a group of close-growing trees
•       Able to consume plants that are toxic to many other species because of fermentation in their stomach (also produce large amount of saliva as a buffer for stomach acid).  Eat about a quarter to a third of their body weight daily
•        Predators include leopards, eagles, and chimpanzees.  They have been seen foraging alongside other primate species.  Infant colobus have been seen playing with the young of other primate species
•        As many as 8 subspecies, differing in coloration and body proportions
•       Species is still common over much of its range, but in decline due to hunting (both for meat and for their fur, used to make ornamental capes and hats) as well as habitat loss.  They are sometimes shot as agricultural pests