COLOBUS

long-tailed, more or less thumbless African monkey of the genus Colobus, family Cercopithecidae. Colobus monkeys are placed in the subfamily Colobinae and, like others of this group, have complex stomachs adapted to accommodating a vegetarian diet. Colobus are diurnal, arboreal, and generally gregarious, and they are able to make long leaps from tree to tree. The 10 species may be divided into three groups: black and white, red, and olive colobus. The four species of black and white colobus, which are sometimes called guerezas, are slender monkeys with long, silky, parti-coloured coats. Their pelts are valued ornaments of native populations, and at one time the European demand for the fur was so great that large numbers of these monkeys were slaughtered annually. Black and white colobus are about 5560 centimetres (2224 inches) long without the 7782-cm tail and are found in lowland and mountain forests. Their young are white at birth. The five species of red colobus are brown or black with red markings and are about 4660 cm long excluding the 4080-cm tail. The olive colobus (C. verus) is a small monkey with short, olive-coloured fur. Red and olive colobus seldom survive for long when captured. The Red Data Book lists several races of the red colobus as endangered, though nominally protected, species. The other colobus species are declining in population and are variously listed as vulnerable or rare.