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Colobus means "mutilated one" (Greek), this is due to their vestigal thumb.
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Home > Meet Our Animals > Mammals > Primates > Black and white colobus
Black and white colobus
Colobus guereza
 
Size Males are ~ 60 cm and females are ~56 cm.
Weight Males weigh 9-14 kg and females weigh 8-9 kg.
Conservation Status
Diet Black and white colobus monkeys are strict leaf eaters. In the wild they like tender young leaves found in treetops. Their unique, complex digestive system allows them to consume some vegetation that other monkeys cannot. At the Zoo, they are offered a base diet of primate biscuit designed for leaf eating primates. The enrichment portion of the diet includes a variety of leafy greens and vegetables. During the summer a portion of their enrichment diet includes a variety of leaves harvested from the Zoo’s browse farm. The leaves are analyzed for nutrient composition and formulated into diet.
Geographic Range Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania among others.
Where to find me in the Zoo PECO Primate Reserve
Note: Description below should include Longevity, Behavior, and Reproduction information

The colobus live in groups of up to 10 individuals. They are diurnal and arboreal, spending half their day resting in trees or on the ground and the other half of their day foraging and feeding.

Longevity
Black and white colobus can live up to 25 years.

Reproduction
Gestation is ~158 days and the young are born completely white.

Behavior
A baby is born completely white and will slowly transition to the adult black and white coloring over a three month span of time. The colobus practice "allo maternal care". This type of care involves several females in the troop sharing responsibility for the care and raising of the offspring.

 
The Zoo has one group on exhibit in PECO Primate Reserve:

Springer: Male, born June 7, 1982. He arrived at the Zoo on May 25, 1992 from Fort Worth Zoo.
Coleus: Female, born April 18, 1986. She arrived at the Zoo on June 6, 1991 from Franklin Park Zoo.
Tamu: Female, born April 25, 1999 to Springer and Coleus. She is the more active of the three and will go higher up in the exhibit than her parents will.

A second group arrived from the Naples Zoo on February 1, 2010. This group, which will be housed in the Colobus exhibit, includes:
 
Jagadi: Male, born September 23, 1986 at Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Park.
Ophelia: Female, born July 12, 1998 at The Zoo – Northwest Florida.
Zabibu: Female, born April 9, 2004 at the Naples Zoo.
Johari: Female, born December 19, 2002 at the Naples Zoo.
Dhoruba: Female, born September 7, 2004 at The Naples Zoo.
Isoke: Male, born May 21, 2006 at The Naples Zoo.
Amir: Male, born August 14, 2007 at The Naples Zoo.
 

Enrichment


Adoption Information


Featured Foster Parent


Sources: 1) Groves C, Wilson DE, Reeder DM. 2005. Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition). Johns Hopkins University Press (MD). p. 167-168. 2) Nowak RM, Paradiso JL. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the World. (4th edition). John Hopkins University Press (MD). p. 432-434. 3) Primate Factsheet: Guereza Taxonomy, Morphology and Ecology. [Internet]. Madison (WI). [Cited 2009 October 14]. Available from http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/links/colobus. 4) Sanderson IT. 1957. The Monkey Kingdom. Doubleday & Company Inc. (NY). p. 138-141.