Other Primates

Eastern Spot-nosed monkey, Cercopithecus petaurista petaurista

The Eastern Spot-nosed monkey has a medium body size and it is highly arboreal. It has a very distinctive white triangle of hair on its nose. Their prominent ears have a line of white hair which extends laterally below the ear. The head, back, outer legs and arms are flecked golden olive-brown.

It occurs from the Cavally River on the Liberia-Cote d'Ivoire border to the Western edge in Togo. It is considered one of the common primates of West Africa, so it can be seen relatively easily.

They normally live in single male multifemale groups, from 4 up to 24 individuals. Their diet is composed of leaves, ripe fruits, insects and flowers. Cercopithecus petaurista is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern.

Patas monkey, Erithrocebus patas

The Patas monkey is a highly terrestrial monkey. They have a relatively large and slim body, with long arms and legs. Their pelage is light red-brown in the crown, back, shoulders and upper tail. The face, arms and legs fur varies from white to yellowish-brown tones. The eyebrows are black, together with the hair around their lips.

The Patas monkey is the most extensive west African primate. It occurs from the South-East edge of the Sahara to the North-East edge of the moist forest zone and from Senegal to Northen Cameroon.

They live in groups from 7 to 45 individuals, in open areas. Their diet is mainly composed of gums, thorns, flowers and seeds. Patas monkey is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern.

Green monkey, Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus

Green monkeys are medium-sized monkeys which can be seen on either the ground or trees. Its upper surfaces are light khaki olive green, while the undersurfaces are white-creamy. In contrast, their big ears and face are dark, and the male scrotum is pale blue.

They are found in Senegal and towards the East in the Volta River in Ghana. The Green monkey has also been introduced in Barbados; Cape Verde; Saint Kitts and Nevis, probably as a result of their history as human pets.

Green monkeys live in multimale-multifemale groups which widely vary in sizes. They eat fruit, seeds and animal matter; their diet is adaptative to seasonality. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Western chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes verus

The Western chimpanzee has a distinctive appearance. The muzzle is broad, fringed laterally and under the lower jaw by sparse white hairs particularly in adult males. The face darkens with age and the ears are large and prominent. The adult males are more robust than the females weighing up to 49kgs, whilst females weigh up to 42kgs.

The Western chimpanzee occurs from South-Eastern Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, South and East through the forest and Southern savanna-woodland zones to Ghana. It is thought that this sub-species at one point was also present in Western Togo, but it is now almost certainly extinct there.

Chimpanzees sleep in nests at night 10-12 metres from the ground. Like gorillas, chimpanzees are quadrupedal 'knuckle-walking' and only on occasion will walk or run bipedally - usually males as part of a display. They are the loudest of all the apes using not only their complex vocal repertoire to communicate but will also strike the buttress of a tree stumps, referred to as 'drumming' which can be heard throughout the forest.

Chimpanzees are highly social, living in groups of mixed age and sex. Group size varies at different times but can be as large as 82 members. Chimpanzees are omnivores whose diet is typically fruit but will occasionally eat leaves and animals.

IUCN lists the Western chimpanzee as Critically Endangered (A4bcd).

Permission to use illustrations kindly given by the artist Stephen Nash