Piliocolobus badius
SUBFAMILY
Colobinae
TAXONOMY
Piliocolobus badius (Kerr, 1792), Sierra Leone. Red colobus monkeys were long included in the genus Colobus, but they are sufficiently distinctive to merit the separate genus Piliocolobus. Three subspecies of the western red colobus can be recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Colobe bai, colobe ferrugineux; German: Roter Stummelaffe; Spanish: Colobo herrumbroso occidental.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Fur black or dark gray dorsally and contrastingly bright red ventrally. The cheeks and the lower parts of the limbs are also bright red. There is relatively little sexual dimorphism in body size; males are only marginally bigger than females. Head and body length: 23 in (57.0 cm) for males and 21 in (53.0 cm) for females; tail length: 26.5 in (66.5 cm) for males and 26.5 in (66.5 cm) for females. Body mass: 18 lb 7 oz (8.36 kg) for males and 18 lb 2 oz (8.21 kg) for females.
DISTRIBUTION
Originally widely distributed in West Africa, from the coast of Senegal to Ghana.
HABITAT
Inhabits primary and secondary rainforest, gallery forest and wooded grassland, often occurring together with mantled guerezas. Prefers rainforest providing young leaves throughout the year.
BEHAVIOR
Diurnal and arboreal. Typically live in moderately sized multi-male groups. Groups lack conspicuous territorial behavior. Unusually among Old World monkeys, females migrate from the natal group on reaching maturity.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Predominantly eat leaves, but also consume appreciable quantities of flowers, shoots and fruits. Feed selectively, exhibiting a marked preference for young leaves.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Polygynous. Births are typically single and occur year-round. In contrast to guerezas, young infants are never held or carried by females other than the mother. Little-studied in captivity, but the gestation period has been reported to be 198 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Listed as Endangered; one subspecies, P. b. waldronae is believed extinct.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Frequently hunted for bushmeat.
