Animal Info - Sclater's Guenon

Animal Info - Sclater's Monkey

(Other Names: Mono de Sclater, Sclater's Guenon, White-throated Guenon)

Cercopithecus sclateri (C. erythrotis s.)

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, Social Organization)
5. References

Profile

Pictures: Sclater's Guenon #1 (24 Kb JPEG) (Kids Ecology Corps); Sclater's Guenon #2 (55 Kb JPEG) (Primate Conservation, Inc.)

Sclater's guenon weighs 2.5 - 4.5 kg (5.5 - 9.9 lb). It is found in patches of swamp and riverine forest. The diet of Sclater's guenon is not known, but, based on the diet of related species, it is likely to be a mixed feeder with a preference for plant parts, especially fruit. Related species are found in troops of 4 - 30 or more.

Sclater's guenon was thought possibly to be extinct until it was found to be surviving in 1988. It is found in Nigeria in small scattered populations along the lower course of the Niger River and in the Niger River delta. Only five discrete populations are currently known. Two of them occur close to villages where they are considered to be sacred and are therefore protected. Other populations of Sclater's guenon are heavily hunted.

Tidbits

*** Some primate species have proven remarkably resistant to habitat fragmentation, with groups surviving in forest patches in West Africa that have been isolated by human activities. In Nigeria, several populations of Sclater's guenon remain in small sacred forests. The recent evolutionary history of these primates has seen forest cover in west and central Africa much reduced on several occasions due to climate change in the past 20,000 years, so preadaptations to fragmented habitats may have taken place. (Tutin et al. 1997)

*** "...this is one of the rarest and most interesting monkeys in Africa..." (Kingdon 1997)

*** Sclater's guenon is considered by some to be a subspecies of the red-eared guenon, Cercopithecus erythrotis.

Status and Trends

IUCN Status:

1994: Endangered
1996 - 2004: Endangered (Criteria: B1+2c) (Population Trend: Decreasing) (IUCN 2004)

Countries Where Sclater's Guenon Is Currently Found:

2004: Occurs in Nigeria. (IUCN 2004)

History of Distribution:

Sclater's guenon was thought possibly to be extinct until it was found to be surviving in 1988. It is found in Nigeria in small scattered populations along the lower course of the Niger River and in the R. Niger delta. Only five discrete populations are currently known. Two of them occur close to villages where they are considered to be sacred and are therefore protected. Each protected group numbers fewer than 250 individuals. The other populations are located in swamp forest on the Niger River floodplain, in Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve in Anambra State and on the west bank of the Cross River near Utuma village. (Stuart & Stuart 1996)

Distribution Map (7 Kb GIF) (African Mammals Databank 2004)

Threats and Reasons for Decline:

Some populations of Sclater's guenon are heavily hunted.

Data on Biology and Ecology

Weight:

A female Sclater's guenon weighs 2.5 - 3.5 kg (5.5 - 7.7 lb); a male weighs 3 - 4.5 kg (6.6 - 9.9 lb).

Habitat:

Sclater's guenon is found in patches of swamp and riverine forest.

Sclater's guenon is found in the Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot (Cons. Intl. 2005).

Diet:

The diet of Sclater's guenon is not known, but, based on the diet of related species, it is likely to be a mixed feeder with a preference for plant parts, especially fruit.

Social Organization:

Related species are found in troops of 4 - 30 or more.

References

African Mammals Databank 2004, Cons. Intl. 2005, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2003a, IUCN 2004, Kids Ecology Corps, Kingdon 1997, Oates 1996, Primate Conservation, Inc., Stuart & Stuart 1996, Tutin et al. 1997

Top of Page | Search This Site

Last modified: October 21, 2005;