Abstract
A review of the conservation status of red colobus indicates that ≥38.9% of the taxa are threatened with extinction in the near future. Although no taxon of red colobus appears to have gone extinct, many of their populations have. The major threats are hunting and habitat loss and degradation, but in some cases intrinsic biotic factors, such as predator-prey imbalance, are leading to serious declines in populations. I propose a general framework for evaluating conservation problems and possible solutions, with an emphasis on distinguishing between proximate and ultimate variables and the time scales involved. In general, most viable populations of red colobus occur in well-protected forests; usually national parks. I proffer recommendations to improve the conservation status of the parks, which will benefit red colobus and most other tropical forest species.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brockelman, W. Y., Griffiths, M., Rao, M., Ruf, R., and Salafsky, N. (2002). Enforcement mechanisms. In Terborgh, J., van Schaik, C., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (eds.), Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature, Island Press, Washington, Covelo, and London, pp. 265–278.
Brandon, K. (1997). Policy and practical considerations in land-use strategies for biodiversity conservation. In Kramer, R., van Schaik, C., and Johnson, J. (eds.), Last Stand: Protected Areas and the Defense of Tropical Biodiversity, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, pp. 90–114.
Brandon, K. (2002). Putting the right parks in the right places. In Terborgh, J., van Schaik, C., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (eds.), Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature, Island Press, Washington, Covelo, and London, pp. 443–467.
Butynski, T. M., and Koster, S. H. (1994). Distribution and conservation status of primates in Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. Biodivers. Conserv. 3: 893–909.
Butynski, T. M., and Mwangi, G. (1995). Census of Kenya’s endangered red colobus and crested mangabey. Afr. Primates 1: 8–10.
Camperio Ciani, A., Palentini, L., and Finotto, E. (2001). Survival of a small translocated Procolobus kirkii population on Pemba Island. Anim. Biodivers. Conserv. 24: 15–18.
Chapman, C. A., Balcomb, S. R., Gillespie, T. R., Skorupa, J. P., and Struhsaker, T. T. (2000). Long-term effects of logging on African primate communities: A 28-year comparison from Kibale National Park, Uganda. Conserv. Biol. 14: 207–217.
Chapman, C. A., Chapman, L. J., Bjorndal, K. A., and Onderdonk, D. A. (2002). Application of protein-to-fiber ratios to predict colobine abundance on different spatial scales. Intl. J. Primatol. 23: 283–310.
Chapman, C. A., and Lambert, J. E. (2000). Habitat alteration and the conservation of African primates: Case study of Kibale National Park, Uganda. Am. J. Primatol. 50: 169–185.
Colyn, M. (1991). L’importance zoogeographique du bassin dul fleuve Zaire pour speciation: le cas des primates simiens. Musee Royal de l’Afrique Centrale Annales Sciences Zoologiques. vol. 264. 250 pp.
Davies, A. G. (1987). The Gola Forest Reserves, Sierra Leone: Wildlife Conservation and Forest Management. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge.
Dinesen, L., Lehmberg, T., Rahner, M. C., and Fjeldsa, J. (2001). Conservation priorities for the forests of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania, based on primates, duikers and birds. Biol. Conserv. 99: 223–236.
Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and Dowsett, R. J. (2001). A new population of gorillas Gorilla gorilla and other endangered primates in western Cameroon. Afr. Primates 5: 3–7.
Edwards, A. E. (1992). The Diurnal Primates of Korup National Park, Cameroon: Abundance, Productivity and Polyspecific Associations. Unpublished MSc., University of Florida, Gainesville, 116 pp.
Ehardt, C. L., Struhsaker, T. T., and Butynski, T. M. (1999). Conservation of the Endangered Endemic Primates of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania: Surveys, Habitat Assessment, and Long-term Monitoring. Unpublished report to The Margot Marsh Biodiversity Fund and the World Wide Fund for Nature—Tanzania, 103 pp.
Gautier-Hion, A., Colyn, M. and Gautier, J.-P. (1999). Histoire Naturelle des Primates D’Afrique Centrale. ECOFAC, Libreville, 162 pp.
Grubb, P., Butynski, T. M., Oates, J. F., Bearder, S. K., Disotell, T. R., Groves, C. P., and Struhsaker, T. T. (2003). An assessment of the diversity of African Primates. Int. J. Primatol. 24: 1301–1357.
Grubb, P., and Powell, C. B. (1999). Discovery of red colobus monkeys (Procolobus badius) in the Niger Delta with the description of a new and geographically isolated subspecies. J. Zool. Lond. 248: 67–73.
Grubb, P., Struhsaker, T. T., and Siex, K. S. (in press.) In Kingdon, J., Happold, D., and Butynski, T. M. (eds.). Mammals of Africa, Academic Press, London.
Hughes, F. M. R. (1985). The Tana River Floodplain Forest, Kenya: Ecology and the Impact of Development. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, 421 pp.
Infield, M. (1988). Hunting, trapping and fishing in villages within and on the periphery of the Korup National Park. Unpublished Paper No. 6 of the Korup National Park Socio-Economic Survey. Publication 3206/a9.6. World Wildlife Fund, Gland, Switzerland.
Johns, A. D., and Skorupa, J. P. (1987). Responses of rainforest primates to habitat disturbance: A review. Int. J. Primatol. 8: 157–191.
Kingdon, J. (1974). East African Mammals. Vol. 1, Academic Press, London and New York, 446 pp.
Kingdon, J. (2001). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals, Academic Press, London and San Diego, 476 pp.
Martin, C., and Asibey, E. O. A. (1979). Effect of timber exploitation on primate population and distribution in the Bia rain forest area of Ghana. Unpublished paper delivered at the 7th Congress of the International Primatological Society, Bangalore, India.
MacKinnon, K. (1997). The ecological foundations of biodiversity protection. In Kramer, R., van Schaik, C., and Johnson, J. (eds.), Last Stand: Protected Areas and the Defense of Tropical Biodiversity. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, pp. 36–63
Mbora, D. N. M. (2003). Habitat Quality and Fragmentation and the Distribution and Abundance of the Tana River Red Colobus Monkey, Procolobus rufomitratus, in Eastern Kenya. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Miami University, 145 pp.
McGraw, W. S., and Oates, J. F. (2002). Evidence for a surviving population of Miss Waldron’s red colobus. Oryx 36(3): 223.
Mitani, J. C., Struhsaker, T. T., and Lwanga, J. S. (2000). Primate community dynamics in old growth forest over 23.5 years at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda: Implications for conservation and census methods. Int. J. Primatol. 21: 269–286.
Oates, J. F. (1986–1990). Action Plan for African Primate Conservation: 1986–1990. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, 41 pp.
Oates, J. F. (1996). African Primates: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan Revised Edition. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, 80 pp.
Oates, J. F. (1999). Myth and Reality in the Rain Forest: How Conservation Strategies are Failing in West Africa, University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London. 310 pp.
Oates, J. F. (2002). West Africa: Tropical forest parks on the brink. In Terborgh, J., van Schaik, C., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (eds.), Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature, Island Press, Washington, Covelo, and London, pp. 57–75.
Oates, J. F., Abedi-Lartey, M., McGraw, W. S., Struhsaker, T. T., and Whitesides, G. H. (2000). Extinction of a west African red colobus monkey. Conserv. Biol. 14: 1526–1532.
Pope, T. R. (1995). Socioecology, population fragmentation, and patterns of genetic loss in endangered primates. In Avis, J., and Hamrick, J. (eds.), Conservation Genetics: Case histories from nature. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp. 119–159.
Rahm, U. H. (1970). Ecology, zoogeography, and systematics of some African forest monkeys. In Napier, J. R., and Napier, P. H. (eds.), Old World Monkeys, Academic Press, New York and London. pp. 589–626.
Robinson, J. G., and Bennett, E. L (eds.) (2000). Hunting for Sustainability in Tropical Forests, Columbia University Press, New York, 582 pp.
Rodgers, W. A., and Homewood, K. M. (1982). Biological values and conservation prospects for the forests and primate populations of the Uzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. Biol. Conserv. 24: 285–304.
Siex, K. S. (2003). Effects of population compression on the demography, ecology, and behavior of the Zanzibar red colobus monkey (Procolobus kirkii). Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Duke University, 314 pp.
Skorupa, J. P. (1986). Responses of rainforest primates to selective logging in Kibale Forest, Uganda: A summary report. In Benirschke, K. (ed.), Primates: The Road to Self-Sustaining Populations. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 57–70.
Skorupa, J. P. (1988). The Effects of Selective Timber Harvesting on Rain-Forest Primates in Kibale Forest, Uganda. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Davis, 519 pp.
Stanford, C. B. (1998). Chimpanzee and Red Colobus: The Ecology of Predator and Prey, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 296 pp.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1975). The Red Colobus Monkey, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 311 pp.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1997). Ecology of an African Rain Forest: Logging in Kibale and the Conflict between Conservation and Exploitation. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 434 pp.
Struhsaker, T. T. (1999). Primate communities in Africa: The consequence of long-term evolution or the artifact of recent hunting? In Fleagle, J. G., Janson, C., and Reed, K. E. (eds.), Primate Communities, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 289–294.
Struhsaker, T. T. (2000). Variation in adult sex ratios of red colobus monkey social groups: Implications for interspecific comparisons. In Kappeler, P. M. (ed.), Primate Males, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 108–119.
Struhsaker, T. T. (2001). Africa’s Rain Forest Protected Areas: Problems and Possible Solutions. An Unpublished Report to the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington, DC, 55 pp.
Struhsaker, T. T. (2002). Strategies for conserving forest national parks in Africa with a case study from Uganda. In Terborgh, J., van Schaik, C., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (eds.), Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp. 97–111.
Struhsaker, T. T., Marshall, A. R., Detwiler, K., Siex, K. S., Ehardt, C., Dahl-Lisbjerg, D., and Butynski, T. M. (2004). Demographic variation in the Udzungwa red colobus (Procolobus gordonorum) in relation to gross ecological and sociological parameters. Int. J. Primatol. 25: 615–658.
Struhsaker, T. T., and Leland, L. (1979). Socioecology of five sympatric monkey species in the Kibale Forest, Uganda. In Rosenblatt, J. S., Hinde, R. A., Beer, C. and Busnel, M. C. (eds.) Advances in the Study of Behavior. Vol. 9, Academic Press, New York, pp. 159–228.
Struhsaker, T. T., and Pope, T. R. (1991). Mating system and reproductive success: A comparison of two African forest monkeys (Colobus badius and Cercopithecus ascanius). Behavior 117: 182–205.
Struhsaker, T. T., and Siex, K. S. (1998). The Zanzibar red colobus monkey: Conservation status of an endangered island endemic. Primate Conserv. 18: 51–58.
Struhsaker, T. T., Struhsaker, P. J., and Siex, K. S. (2005). Conserving Africa’s Rain Forests: Problems and Possible Solutions. Bio. Conserv. 123: 45–54.
Terborgh, J. (2002). Overcoming impediments to conservation. In Terborgh, J., van Schaik, C., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (eds.), Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature, Island Press, Washington, Covelo, and London. pp. 243–249.
Terborgh, J., and van Schaik, C. P. (1997). Minimizing species loss: The imperative of protection. In Kramer, R., van Schaik, C., and Johnson, J. (eds.), Last Stand: Protected Areas and the Defense of Tropical Biodiversity, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, pp. 15–35.
Thompson, J. A. M. (1999–2000). Conservation of Thollon’s red colobus Piliocolobus tholloni, Democratic Republic of Congo. Afr. Primates 4: 27–32.
Tutin, C. E. G. (2002). Parks in the Congo basin: Can conservation and development be reconciled? In Terborgh, J., van Schaik, C., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (eds.), Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature, Island Press, Washington, Covelo, and London, pp. 76–85.
van Schaik, C. P., and Kramer, R. A. (1997). Toward a protection paradigm. In Kramer, R., van Schaik, C., and Johnson, J. (eds.), Last Stand: Protected Areas and the Defense of Tropical Biodiversity, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, pp. 212–230.
van Schaik, C., Teborgh, J., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (2002). In Terborgh, J., van Schaik, C., Davenport, L., and Rao, M. (eds.), Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature, Island Press, Washington, Covelo, and London, pp. 468–481.
Waltert, M., Lien, Faber, K., and Muhlenberg, M. (2002). Further declines of threatened primates in the Korup Project Area, south-west Cameroon. Oryx 36: 257–265.
Watts, D. P., and Mitani, J. C. (2002). Hunting behavior of chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Int. J. Primatol. 23: 1–28.
Werre, J. L. R. (2000). Ecology and Behavior of the Niger Delta Red Colobus Monkey (Procolobus badius epieni). Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, City University of New York, 222 pp.
Wieczkowski, J., and Mbora, D. N. M. (1999–2000). Increasing threats to the conservation of endemic endangered primates and forests of the lower Tana River, Kenya. Afr. Primates 4: 32–40.
World Resources Institute (2000). World Resources 2000–2001, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam,. 389 pp.
Wrangham, R. W., and Bergmann-Riss, E. L. (1990). Rates of predation on mammals by Gombe chimpanzees, 1972–1975. Primates 38: 157–170.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Struhsaker, T.T. Conservation of Red Colobus and Their Habitats. Int J Primatol 26, 525–538 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-005-4364-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-005-4364-0