Piliocolobus waldronae (Hayman, 1936)

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 550-755 : 706

89.

Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus

Piliocolobus waldronae

French: Colobe de Waldron / German: Miss-Waldron-Stummelaffe / Spanish: Colobo rojo de Ghana

Other common names: Miss Waldron’s Bay Colobus

Taxonomy. Colobus badius waldroni Hayman, 1936 ,

Goaso, Ashanti, Ghana.

The name waldroni is here corrected to waldronae , as required by Article 31.1.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4" edition, published in 1999. Modern taxonomic arrangements of the colobus monkeys either divide the red colobus and the Olive Colobus into two genera, Piliocolobus and Procolobus , respectively, or consider them to belong to one genus, Procolobus , with two subgenera ( Procolobus for the Olive Colobus and Piliocolobus for the red colobus). We follow here C. P. Groves in his publications of 2001 and 2007 in using two genera. Monotypic.

Distribution. SE Ivory Coast; possibly in SW Ghana.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 45-67 cm (males) and 42-56 cm (females), tail 56 68 cm (males) and 52-67 cm (females); weight 5-5—6-3 kg. Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus is, on average, considerably smaller than the Upper Guinea Red Colobus (FP. badius ). There is a low degree of sexual dimorphism, and its tail is shorter. It is characterized by its very black limbs and flat nose (without a raised fleshy base). Crown, nape, shoulders, and back are the same shining black as in the Upper Guinea Red Colobus , but forehead, limbs, whiskers, lower half of flanks, and underside are bright maroon, and hind parts of thighs and scrotum are white. Tail is black. Face is slaty-blue, with pink lips but no depigmentation around the eyes. According to mtDNA analysis on a single individual, Miss Waldron’s Red Colobusis not as closely related to the Upper Guinea Red Colobus as some ofits external features might suggest. It carries a mitochondrial lineage quite divergent from those sampled thus far in the Upper Guinea Red Colobus and Temminck’s Red Colobus (P. temminckiz).

Habitat. Moist forest zone, although parts contained forest that had a marked dry season and semi-deciduous trees. Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus uses the upper levels of the forest canopy, above the sympatric King Colobus ( Colobus polykomos ).

Food and Feeding. The diet of Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus is similar to that of the Upper Guinea Red Colobus and contains mainly leaves, supplemented by fruits, seeds, and flowers.

Breeding. There is no information available for this species.

Activity patterns. Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus is diurnal and arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. A short study of Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus at Bia National Park in Ghana in the 1970s recorded a group of 34 individuals in a home range of 140 ha and another group of 58 individuals in a home range of 100 ha. Its vocalizations are similar to those of the Upper Guinea Red Colobus .

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List (as Procolobus badius waldronae ). Miss Waldron’s Red Colobusis listed as Class B in the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. In the past, it ranged from the Nzi-Bandama River system in south-eastern Ivory Coast to south-western Ghana (Bibianha, 6° 17° N, 2° 4’ 48” W), not quite reaching the Volta River. It has been extirpated over most of its distribution. There have been no confirmed sightings since 1978, and surveys carried out from 1993 to the present have yet to confirm the survival of any living individuals. Accordingly, in 2000, Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus was declared probably extinct. Since then, however, there have been a few unconfirmed sightings (in addition to a photograph) reported from the Ehy Forest, Ivory Coast, where a skin and tail were discovered in the possession of a hunter in 2002. Calls of what are believed to be Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus in this region were heard in early 2008, giving some hope that the taxon may yet persist in the wild. Further surveys are urgently needed. Massive habitat loss and hunting pressure are responsible for its decline.

Bibliography. Booth, A.H. (1956b), Booth, C.P. (1958), Groves (2001, 2007b), Grubb et al. (2003), Hayman (1936), Martin (1991), McGraw (1998a, 2005), McGraw & Oates (2002), Oates (2011), Oates, Abedi-Lartey et al. (2000), Pocock (1935).

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Distribution. SE Ivory Coast; possibly in SW Ghana.