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Scientific Name: |
Colobus guereza
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Range: |
Central and Eastern Africa
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Habitat: |
Rainforests
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Natural Diet: |
Fruit, leaves, flowers, and twigs
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Zoo Diet: |
Commercial primate biscuit, vegetables, and bananas
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Physical
Characteristics:
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Colobus monkeys are black with white fur bordering their face and trailing down their back and rump. Their tails have a bushy white tip. They are 20-22 inches in length, and their tails are an additional 21-33 inches long. They weigh 18-30 pounds.
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Behavior: |
Colobus monkeys have unusually long fingers which help them swing through the trees, looking for food. Each male leads a small troop of 4-5 females and young. He defends his territory with roars and tremendous leaps.
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Reproduction: |
The gestation period is about six months. Females give birth to an average of one young every 20 months.
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Notes:
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Colobus monkeys have specialized stomachs that help them digest plant cellulose. To get rid of the methane and carbon dioxide produced as a byproduct of digestion, they often belch in each other’s face as a friendly social gesture. Their digestive systems enable them to get more nutrition from plants than other monkeys.
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