Animal Info - Red-bellied Monkey

(Other Names: Cercopithèque à Ventre Roux, Nigerian Guenon, Nigerian White-throat Monkey, Red-bellied Guenon, Rotbauchmeerkatze, White-throated Guenon or Monkey)

Cercopithecus erythrogaster

Status: Endangered

1. Profile (Picture)
2. Tidbits
3. Status and Trends (IUCN Status, Countries Where Currently Found, History of Distribution, Threats and Reasons for Decline)
4. Data on Biology and Ecology (Weight, Habitat, Diet, Behavior, Social Organization, Density and Range)
5. References

Profile

Pictures: Red-bellied Monkey #1 (10 Kb JPEG); Red-bellied Monkey #2 (166 Kb GIF) (Prim. Info Net)

The red-bellied monkey weighs 2 - 4.5 kg (4.4 - 9.9 lb). It is arboreal, living in moist tropical forest and the wettest parts of dry tropical forest. It is also found in secondary bush and old farmland. Its diet includes fruit, insects, leaves and crops. Solitary males have been observed, but usually the red-bellied monkey forages in small groups of up to 5 individuals, although groups of 30 or more probably occur (Oates 1985).

This monkey is known only from southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin. It is threatened by hunting and habitat degradation from agriculture and logging.

Tidbits

*** The red-bellied monkey does not adapt well to highly degraded forest.

Status and Trends

IUCN Status:

1986: Vulnerable
1988 - 1994: Endangered
1996: Vulnerable (Criteria: A1c)
2000 - 2004: Endangered (Criteria: A1cd) (Population Trend: Decreasing) (IUCN 2004)

Countries Where the Red-bellied Monkey Is Currently Found:

2004: Occurs in Nigeria and Benin. May occur in Togo. (IUCN 2004)

History of Distribution:

The red-bellied monkey occurs in southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin. It may occur in Togo. (IUCN 2004)

Distribution Map (14 Kb GIF) (African Mammals Databank 2004)

Threats and Reasons for Decline:

Threats include hunting and habitat degradation from agriculture and logging

Data on Biology and Ecology

Weight:

The female red-bellied monkey weighs 2 - 4 kg (4.4 - 8.8 lb); the male weighs 3.5 - 4.5 kg (7.7 - 9.9 lb).

Habitat:

The red-bellied monkey is found in moist lowland tropical forest and the wettest parts of dry tropical forest. It is also found in secondary bush and old farmland, usually in dense vegetation between 2 - 15 m (6.6 - 50') (Kingdon 1997).

The red-bellied monkey is found in the Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot (Cons. Intl. 2005).

Diet:

Fruit, insects, leaves and crops.

Behavior:

The red-bellied monkey is arboreal.

Social Organization:

Solitary males have been observed, but usually the red-bellied monkey forages in small groups of up to 5 individuals, although groups of 30 or more probably occur (Oates 1985).

Density and Range:

At the heart of the red-bellied monkey's remaining range, a spacing of 1 group per sq km (1 group per 0.4 sq mi) has been estimated (Kingdon 1997).

References

African Mammals Databank 2004, Burton & Pearson 1987, Cons. Intl. 2005, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2003a, IUCN 2004, Kingdon 1997, Macdonald 1984, Oates 1985, Oates 1996, Prim. Info Net

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Last modified: June 4, 2005;