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King Colobus Monkey
You can spot our two female king colobus monkeys, Ivy and Lola, along with their adorable infants up at Monkey Heights!
When infants are born they have totally white fur. This darkens with age to the mature black colouration, apart from the tail and some facial features.
Class:
Mammals
Order:
Primates
Family:
Cercopithecidae
About the king colobus monkey
These eye-catching primates, also known as western black and white colobus, are native to mountains and lowland forests in a small range of western Africa, from The Gambia to Ivory Coast.
King colobus monkeys are herbivores, enjoying a diet of leaves, flowers and fruit.
These monkeys have a very long, unmissable white tail, which acts as extra support when they are leaping from tree to tree.
Conservation
King colobus monkeys are classified as Endangered, with wild populations declining due to habitat loss and hunting across parts of West Africa, where the species lives in forested areas. Forest clearance for agriculture, settlements and resource use continues to reduce the space available for these monkeys in the wild.
European zoos work together through carefully managed breeding programmes (EEPs) to help safeguard species like the king colobus by maintaining healthy, genetically diverse populations. Each birth is planned, monitored and plays a role in supporting the long-term survival of the species.