The western red colobus (Procolobus badius) is a species of Old World monkey found in West African forests from Senegal to Ghana.[1] All other species of red colobuses have formerly been considered subspecies of P. badius. It is often hunted by the common chimpanzee. In 1994, western red colobus monkeys infected many chimpanzees with Ebola virus when they were hunted and eaten by the chimpanzees.[3]
Subspecies
Description
The
western red colobus grows to a head-and-body length of 450 to 670 mm
(18 to 26 in) with a tail of 520 to 800 mm (20 to 31 in), and a weight
of between 5 and 11 kg (11 and 24 lb). It has red or chestnut-brown head
and limbs and black, slatey-grey or dark brown upper parts. It does not
have long fringes of hair, or tufts of hair on the tail. Compared to
monkeys in the genus Colobus, the nostrils are V-shaped, the digits are long and the big toe short.[4]
Distribution and habitat
The red colobus is endemic
to tropical West Africa. Its range includes various fragmentary
populations in Sierra Leone, and contiguous populations in Liberia,
Guinea and western Ivory Coast. It is unclear exactly where the ranges
of P. b. badius and P. b. temminckii meet, but P. b. badius populations are separated from P. b. waldronae by the Bandama River
in Ivory Coast. The red colobus is an arboreal species, typically found
in primary rainforest, but also inhabiting secondary forest and gallery
forest.[2]
Ecology
The red colobus lives in colonies of between twelve and eighty members. There are usually several males and up to three times this number of adult females. There is a social hierarchy, giving access to food, space and grooming.[4]
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