Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), recorded as Endangered
Western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Western red colobus

Piliocolobus badius

Western red colobus is an Old World monkey in the family Cercopithecidae (order Primates) — Piliocolobus badius, recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Piliocolobus badius
CITES
Appendix II
Taxonomy
Mammalia · Primates · Cercopithecidae · Piliocolobus

Appearance

It has red or chestnut-brown head and limbs and black, slatey-grey or dark brown upper parts.

The western red colobus grows to a head-and-body length of 450 to 670 mm (18 to 26 in) with a tail of 520 to 800 mm (20 to 31 in), and a weight of between 5 and 11 kg (11 and 24 lb).

Range and habitat

The red colobus is endemic to tropical West Africa. Its range includes various fragmentary populations in Sierra Leone, and contiguous populations in Liberia, Guinea and western Ivory Coast. It is unclear exactly where the ranges of P. B. Badius and P. B. Temminckii meet, but P. B. Badius populations are separated from P. B. Waldronae by the Bandama River in Ivory Coast.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet

The monkey is a frequent prey of the common chimpanzee.

In crisis

CITES lists this taxon on Appendix II. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.

Western red colobus is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Western red colobus, Wikidata item Q1075133. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Niger Delta red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Niger Delta red colobus

Piliocolobus epieni
Photograph of Pennant's colobus (Piliocolobus pennantii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Pennant's colobus

Piliocolobus pennantii
Photograph of Preuss's red colobus (Piliocolobus preussi), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Preuss's red colobus

Piliocolobus preussi
Photograph of Tana River red colobus (Piliocolobus rufomitratus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Tana River red colobus

Piliocolobus rufomitratus

Quick answers

What is Western red colobus?
Western red colobus is an Old World monkey in the family Cercopithecidae (order Primates) — Piliocolobus badius.
What is the conservation status of Western red colobus?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Piliocolobus badius. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Western red colobus live?
The red colobus is an arboreal species, typically found in primary rainforest, but also inhabiting secondary forest and gallery forest.
Why is Western red colobus in crisis?
It is Endangered on Wikidata. Read the official Red List assessment for the criteria.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Piliocolobus badius?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Western red colobus a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.