Bay red colobus, Rust red colobus, Upper Guinea red colobus, Upper guinea red colobus
The western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius ), also known as the bay red colobus, rust red colobus or Upper Guinea red colobus, is a species of Old World monkey in West African forests from Senegal to Ghana. 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 the chimpanzees hunted the monkeys as prey.
The Western red colobus is a species of Old World monkey that lives in West African forests. It has a red or chestnut-brown head and limbs and black, slatey-grey, or dark brown upperparts. It does not have long fringes of hair, or tufts of hair on the tail. Its nostrils are V-shaped, the digits are long and the big toe short.
Western red colobuses are native to tropical West Africa. Their range includes various fragmentary populations in Sierra Leone, and contiguous populations in Liberia, Guinea, and the western Ivory Coast. These monkeys are typically found in primary rainforest, but also inhabit the secondary forest, gallery forest, mangroves, woodland savanna, a shrub savanna.
Western red colobuses live high in trees and only rarely descend to the forest’s floor. They are active during the day and spend their time traveling, resting, playing, feeding, and grooming. These monkeys live in colonies of between 12 and 80 members. There are usually several males and up to three times this number of adult females. Colonies are very territorial and there is a social hierarchy, giving access to food, space, and grooming.
Western red colobuses are herbivores. They eat fruits, seeds, young leaves, and shoots.
Female Western red colobuses reproduce every 2 years giving birth to a single infant. The gestation period usually lasts from 6 to 6.5 months. Infants are born naked with their eyes closed and are nursed, groomed, and protected by their mothers.
The major threats to Western red colobuses include hunting for bushmeat and loss of their natural habitat due to logging, mining, and agricultural expansion.
There is no overall population estimate available for the Western red colobus. However, there are estimates of its populations in specific areas: 97,000 individuals in Côte d’Ivoire and over 5,000 individuals in Gola Rainforest National Park (Sierra Leone). Currently, the Western red colobus is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are decreasing.
Western red colobuses eat many fruits and thus help disperse seeds throughout their ecosystem.