Angolan Colobus

• Common Name: Angola Colobus
• Taxonomy Classification Year: 1860
• Monkey Size: 50 to 70 cm (19.7 to 27.6 inches)
• Skin Color(s): Glossy black
• Habitat: Forests, rainforests, thickets
• Diet: Herbivorous
• Native Countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania

The Angolan Colobus^[1] is a conspicuously-patterned monkey with a very long tail that helps it maintain its balance as it moves quickly through the trees.

• Angolan Colobuses feed mainly on leaves in various types of forests and live in social groups composed of a single dominant male and many females.
• Angolan colobus monkeys have distinctive black-and-white furs, like their black-and-white-mantled guereza cousins (Colobus guereza).
• Still, they are distinguished by long, silky white hair framing their black faces and falling over their shoulders like royal epaulettes.
• Angolan Colobus’ long tails fade from black to white on the lower half. Like other colobus monkeys, they have an opposable finger and a reduced thumb.
• Their slender, curved fingers form a single, flexible hook, an adaptation that helps them navigate canopy branches more easily.
• Colobus monkeys also share flattened nails, hind feet that are longer than the front feet, and prominent pads on the buttocks.

• Although the species is named after Angola, it’s rare in this country.
• Angolan Colobuses are diurnal and live in groups of 25 individuals with a dominant male, 2 to 6 females, and their young.
• The name “Colobus” means “incomplete” or “short” and refers to the underdeveloped thumb of the species.
• The animals are considered sacred in West Africa due to their shy, reserved, and unapproachable nature.
• When a social group is threatened, the male will jump and roar until the rest of the pack has fled.