Hence forth you shall be known as.....

I am currently following three different groups of the Angolan black & white colobus monkey, two largely unknown and one known extremely well. So well in fact that they all have names and are seen almost every day in and around the Colobus Conservation site.

Following the colobus group around the site

I have been given the honour of naming a new male that has entered into this well known group, and to release him from the shackles of his old name (or code to be more accurate); C115.

After deliberating for a few days on whether I should go English name, Swahili name or Swahili word I opted for the latter. Before revealing this name I should probably go into a bit more detail regarding his personality; as that is what I wanted to represent within his new title.

He is a large adult male and has more than likely joined the group with an idea of taking it over. He sits on the fringes of the group, a tree or two away, biding his time before moving in closer to perhaps rattle the current alpha male. He gets chased away regularly by the resident alpha, but slowly and surely he makes his way back to the fringe. On thing is for sure, while C115 is around you can guarantee there will be trouble.

Hence forth C115 shall be known as:

 Matata 

(means trouble or trouble maker)

C115 or now Matata

Matata in his more relaxed state

The colobus group with Matata down the bottom on the fringe

Check back to learn more about the group and how Matata is getting on in the coming weeks.

As always the pictures are owned by the author and under their copyright. They are uploaded at a lower quality as my internet in Kenya is slow.

You can see all my photos of my time in Kenya on my Flickr page here -http://bit.ly/1dpb3gd

Or on my Facebook page here - www.facebook.com/diaryofaprimatologist

Disclaimer:

"The views and opinions expressed in the Diary of a Primatologist blog are purely my own and are not in any way linked to any organisations I may represent or work with unless otherwise stated. All photos are my own unless otherwise stated and a source will be provided where other photos are used; if they are yours and you would like them taken down then please just ask. The author retains full copyright for all content and photos and written permission is required before their use. The owner of the site is not liable for any content accessed through links posted."

You've heard about Elmo from Sesame Street, well here is the primate version; Sykes.

Next in my series of introducing the Diani primates is the cute, the comical and the silly, it is of course the one and only Sykes monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) or Kima in Swahili. In Diani we have a south coast sup-species (Cercopithecus albogularis ssp albogularis).

Although I know them as Sykes they are also called blue monkeys or samango’s and what’s great about watching them, is that anything they seem to do makes me laugh as there facial features and body language are very comical; and I will try to depict this within the photos I show you.

Sykes monkey

Distribution & Habitat:

The Sykes monkeys are far more common than the colobus monkey and are widely distributed all over the Kenyan coast and seen everywhere. They are semi-arboreal semi-terrestrial and are comfortable in both environments, they often come down to the ground where the youngsters love to run around and play. Their habitat mainly consists of thick forest areas, which includes the coastal forests.

Happy grooming in the trees

Equally happy playing on the ground

Anatomy:

Sykes monkeys have an average life span of around 27 years in the wild. They can range from 50 to 70cm in body length the males can weigh between 6-9kg and females 3-6kg. The majority of they colouring is grey, but they do have a blackish tail, limbs and shoulders with some chestnutty patches on their back and face. Finally they have a white chin and throat and a white ruff that extends around part of their neck. They have gorgeous brown/orange eyes with a slightly large squashed nose; it reminds me of Elmo from Sesame Street.

Diet:

Unlike the colobus Sykes eat a wide range of foods and are omnivorous and opportunistic; especially when it comes to unsuspecting tourists. Their main diet is shoots, fruits, leaves, flowers and berries, but they do also consume eggs, insects and as mentioned before any human food they can get their hands on. Don’t be surprised to see them hunting through bags and raiding hotel rooms for snacks. I was watching a group ransacking an office that someone had left open, things were being knocked over, chewed on and Sykes were running out the door/window with their prize.

I don't think that medication is for you

Social Structure:

Sykes are very territorial and live in female bonded; single-male troops and the group size can vary between 4-65 individuals averaging around 20 in Diani. The groups are very stable and peaceful with the resident male maintaining dominance for years and the sub-adult males being evicted readily.

Sykes group

Sometimes an outsider male will learn to imitate the call of the group’s dominant male to attract the females away. I personally believe this would also attract the dominant male as he might think, oh another big male nearby better defend my territory.

Sykes showing they are not always cute and cuddly taking on 3 Vervets

Sykes can often be seen in and around other primate species especially the colobus monkeys and it is not uncommon to see the young of both species actually playing together. It is thought the colobus tolerate the Sykes as they are extremely vigilant and are usually first to notice any danger. Their calls are varied and interesting to hear. Soft like trilling sounds given by the sub-adults are a sign of submission and you have loud chirps for alarm calls. The dominant male’s throat call is, in my opinion, the coolest sound they make, like he is booming out a swallowing call.

Sykes grooming a Vervet

A Sykes playing with a colobus

As a species C. mitis are rated as ‘least concern’ by the IUCN as it is widespread, common, present in numerous protected areas, and there are no major threats. However, when considered at subspecies level their rating ranges from data deficient to critically endangered.

Overall a pretty sweet little monkey that can sometimes have human confrontations with it’s sneaky stealing skills. Sooner or later all will fall in love with this monkey’s charm.

As always the pictures are owned by the author and under their copyright. They are uploaded at a lower quality as my internet in Kenya is slow.

You can see all my photos of my time in Kenya on my Flickr page here -http://bit.ly/1dpb3gd

Or on my Facebook page here - www.facebook.com/diaryofaprimatologist

References:

www.colobusconservation.org

Disclaimer:

"The views and opinions expressed in the Diary of a Primatologist blog are purely my own and are not in any way linked to any organisations I may represent or work with unless otherwise stated. All photos are my own unless otherwise stated and a source will be provided where other photos are used; if they are yours and you would like them taken down then please just ask. The author retains full copyright for all content and photos and written permission is required before their use. The owner of the site is not liable for any content accessed through links posted."

Picking up rubbish and seeing...... in Shimba Hills National Reserve

Today we joined the Shimba Support Group (SSG) at Shimba Hills National Reserve, Kenya, to do a big clean-up. There were four of us from Colobus Conservation that were joining SSG and we were very excited. Not about picking up the rubbish, although it is good to do so, but the fact we could possibly see Elephants, Sable Antelope, Giraffe and if we were unbelievably incredibly ridiculously lucky a Leopard.

Bernard, the Treasurer of SSG, picked us up at 7.30am in his air conditioned Range Rover (Oh My God air conditioning) and off we went for the 45 minute drive. It was very comfortable and a pleasant change to be cool and not sweating. Driving through Ukunda (local town) and the other villages was a new experience in itself, as I was asleep for a lot of the journey from Mombasa airport to Diani when I first arrived. It was fascinating seeing everyone going about their daily business, and the general hubbub of the area.

A Matatu, standard transport in Kenya.

Leaving Ukunda (local town) heading to Shimba Hill National Reserve

Shimba Hills in the background

We were all experiencing childlike excitement on reaching the gate of Shimba Hills, the terrain was much different from what we were used to; like we were going into Jurassic Park. Bernard had warned us that due to the thick bush like terrain it is not likely that we would see much, if anything; so we were holding out for lady luck. Well not more than 5 minutes in and what happens, we spot 3 frigging elephants 15 metres away and walking towards our position. I was so excited and started snapping away to make sure I could remember this moment and share it with everyone who wasn't there. It was three youngish elephants and they moved with purpose towards us, but they wanted the water (not us thankfully). They splashed the water and mud on their body’s and then within a few minutes had disappeared into the bush never to be seen again. It was like they were saying, OK here you go have a quick look, take a photo, tell your friends about us. Safe to say we were now buzzing and wondering what else we would see.

Approaching main gate to Shimba Hills

Entrance to Shimba Hill National Reserve

Two young elephants

Elephant having a mud bath

Elephants crossing the road

I sometimes feel I should just enjoy the experience of the event that is unfolding in front of me rather than snap away to grab a photo. I would agree in some circumstances yes that is lovely to do; however I had wanted to see African elephants for a long time and they were not really stopping so I knew I had little time; does feel like I didn't really take it all in though.

We arrived at our rendezvous point and met the other people (mainly ex-pats and workers from a local community project) and then got a briefing for the day. Minibuses took us to the starting point and we began picking up what rubbish we could find. It was quite a privilege to be walking through a National Reserve as it is not normally allowed, to be more specific it was the public road that cars/buses use to go to Nairobi (but still technically in the park). About fifteen minutes into the litter pick the heavens opened and we got absolutely soaked. As this was an open road there were not really any trees around so we just had to take it. Once the rain had moved on the glorious sun came out and it wasn't long before we were dry again.

Briefing before clean-up begins

The four of us and a coupe of others were near the back getting further and further away from the other group; and for good reason. We were properly looking around for bits of rubbish, found many plastic and glass bottles, wrapper bits, car parts etc (goodness knows what the main group of around 30 people were doing walking past all this waste).

First bit of rubbish

The group and our guard

It took us just over 2 hours to complete the section we were instructed to sweep and that brought us back to the main gate; our starting point. Everyone else was already there, including another group that did the other direction with a local school group. The amount of rubbish we all collected was impressive (I personally got a bag and a half; thank you) and was nice to know it was all going to be recycled and disposed of properly. The plastic bottles were going to a community project where they use them to build bottle benches. Group photo then we went to a nice spot in the Reserve for a spot of lunch, or my homemade peanut butter sandwiches, (palm oil free of course-find out why click here) After an hour or so we went our separate ways and ours just happened to be a trip around the park, thanks to Bernard.

Final group photo, look at all that rubbish

A school group learning about protecting the environment

Unfortunately, seeing the elephants right at the beginning had raised our expectations. We did see a small deer called a Dik-Dik (I believe), with a small bright white tail and a bound in its step that would put Usain Bolt to shame, and a large group of Baboons, which apart from seeing them in a more natural setting was not really a big deal as I see them everyday in Diani. The views from some of the stopping points were breathtaking and it was peacefully quiet and a nice change of scenery.

Me in front of a breathtaking view

A group of yellow baboons in a more natural setting

This rounded up our clean-up day in Shimba Hills Nature Reserve and not only did we feel we had done our part in making the reserve a better place; we saw ELEPHANTS!

As always the pictures are my own and uploaded at a lower quality as my internet in Kenya is slow.

You can see all my photos of my time in Kenya on my Flickr page here -http://bit.ly/1dpb3gd

Or on my facebook page here - www.facebook.com/diaryofaprimatologist

Disclaimer:

"The views and opinions expressed in the Diary of a Primatologist blog are purely my own and are not in any way linked to any organisations I may represent or work with unless otherwise stated. All photos are my own unless otherwise stated and a source will be provided where other photos are used. The owner of the site is not liable for any content accessed through links posted."

The Angolan Black and White Colobus Monkey (Colobus angolensis ssp palliatus)

Since I spend most of my time following the Angolan Black & White Colobus monkeys of Diani I thought I would introduce them to you in more detail.

Angolan Black & White Colobus Monkey

Habitat & population:

I am following a sub species of the Angolan Black & White Colobus monkey (Colobus) Colobus angolensis ssp palliates (Family Cercopithecidae: Subfamily colobinae). Previously found along the entire coast activities like deforestation and hunting now mean they are only found in the south eastern part of Kenya and Tanzania coastal forests. There are estimated to be between 2 - 5,000 Colobus monkeys in Kenya and the latest census conducted by Colobus Conservation found there were approximately 450 individuals living in the Diani area. This is an increase on previous years and is also a good sign of the general health of the forest.

Anatomy:

This species of Colobus monkey have black hair with a white brow band, cheeks and throat. They also have long haired white epaulettes streaming from their shoulders. The lower part of their tail is white and for males they have a white line from their buttocks to their penis where females just have a white patch by their buttocks. Colobus babies are born white and then turn grey and black, it is not till around three months old they get the adult colouration of black and white.

White baby

Showing the male white line

All Colobus species they are diurnal (active during the day), they have flattened nails, pads on their buttocks and their hind legs are longer than their fore limbs. They have a light-weight bone structure and elongated limbs as they spend their entire lives in the trees (arboreal), so this makes it easier for them to leap from tree to tree. They have four digits on their hands and do not have thumbs, however, on their feet they have five digits retaining their opposable big toe. The reduction of a thumb on their hands is thought to aid their movement through the forest. The name “Colobus” is thought to come from the Greek word “kolobus” meaning maimed or mutilated, due to their lack of a thumb.

A group of Colobus in the trees

Showing the feet of the Colobus and the opposable big toe.

Diet:

The Colobus monkeys are specialist leaf eaters, occasionally taking in fruits and flowers and do not have cheek pouches. Their stomach is very large and has three separate chambers with specific bacteria that help to ferment and digest the leaves, very similar to the process of rumination in cows. They have been recorded to eat 46 different species, but only five species make up the greatest proportion of their diet. Due to the poor nutritional quality of their food they have to browse for many hours, consuming two to three kg of leaves per day (one third of their full body weight). This means they have to sleep for around a third of their day to aid the digestion. They even eat soil, clay, charcoal and rocks which is thought to assist in the digestion of toxic leaves.

Eating a tasty flower

Eating a bit of soft rock to aid the toxicity of certain leaves

Classic Colobus resting position during the day

Social Structure:

Groups are normally made up of one male and many females with between 3-25 individuals in well defined territories. The dominant male will protect the group from predators and rival groups whereas the dominant female will lead the group. Females remain in their natal troops for life while young males will leave their natal group to start bachelor groups, or to travel alone until they are able to take over their own group. Colobus reproduce all year round with a peak in September and it is thought the babies are born white to encourage other females of the group to take care of the infant; ‘aunting behaviour’. This will not only free up time for the mother to rest and feed, but allow the younger females a chance to practice mothering skills for when they have a baby.

A Colobus baby being passed to different females in the group

In Diani the Colobus are not a pest to tourists as they are not interested in human food and spend their time in the trees and not on the ground. For this reason they are well liked by visitors and the local people and see as a sign of health in the forest.

All photos appearing in this post are taken by me and the quality is low as my internet here is not that good.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

You can see all my pictures at my Flickr account here – http://bit.ly/1dpb3gd 

Or on my facebook page where you can also get additional updates here – www.facebook.com/diaryofaprimatologist

References:

www.colobusconservation.org

Kenya one month on, the journey continues.

Wow, it has been one month since I left the UK to begin my adventure in Kenya, where has that time gone?

What a month. It has been incredibly hot everyday (pretty sure it’s never dropped below 28 degree Celsius even at night) and I have sweated more than I thought humanly possible. Having a pig rub up against me while looking for the colobus monkeys in a private residence was interesting. Being attacked by a turkey that I think has masculinity issues was definitely a thrill ride I will not forget in a hurry. Same as ridding on Matatu’s, which are pretty much old beaten up mini-buses with parts missing, more people than seats crammed on, loud reggae music and many stickers obstructing the drivers view with Islam messages like ‘God is great’ or Bob Marley saying ‘One Love’. Was really funny when the driver went over a speed bump and the engine cut out; with a resounding cheer from the passengers. Oh and the conductor who takes the money (16p a ride) hangs outside the side door with many notes between his fingers whistling at anyone to get them on board. Matatu’s have been banned driving at night after too many accidents; don’t worry Mum I am being careful.

The pig that kept very close to me

I have enjoyed swimming in the warm sea as much as possible and relaxing on the golden sand beach. I have now bought a snorkeling kit and swam out and saw some coral and clown fish (Nemo), zebra fish and other colourful individuals. Can’t wait to take a boat further out to the reef close by and then go to a marine park area when my family arrive in June. 

Watching monkey autopsy’s being carried out by Martr the volunteer vet was very interesting, taught me a lot about their anatomy and there strange circle shaped hearts; no one knows why this is. With the work of Colobus Conservation the amount of monkey injuries has drastically dropped, due to initiatives like power cable insulation, planting of more native trees and Colobridges going over the main road.

The team going out to insulate some power cables

The cherry on the cake though has been having hundreds of primates all around me all the time; they are part of the landscape and that is fantastic. You have the Angolan black & white colobus, the Sykes and Vervet monkey as well as the Yellow Baboons, and then at night you have the Bush Babies making some interesting noises. The different characters of the species are really fun to watch; they will be covered in future blog posts. However, I think it is clear that the Sykes are definitely the funniest to watch with their glowing eyes and bobbing heads.

A Sykes monkey, no matter what angle you get they are funny

A beautiful Angolan Black & White Colobus monkey

The baboons have a powerful odour to them and roam the floor in large groups like the school bullies seeing who they can pick on (it usually ends being their own group). Being in the middle of a Baboon/Dog/Human firing rocks via catapult battle was pretty hair raising, but I live to tell the tale; well that was pretty much the tale.

Yellow Baboon mother and baby

When I am walking round a lot of the locals recognise the colobus T-shit and shout ‘COLOBUS’ at which I say back ‘Jambo’. It could be my red backpack and blue clipboard that gives it away more; they have kind of become my trademark items now. Speaking of Jambo my Swahili is coming on well and although I can’t string loads of sentences together I know most of the useful words, greetings and how to tell people trying to sell me things, ‘No I do not want it thank you’ or ‘Hapana sitaki asante sana’.

All in all I have now settled in very well and although the heat is on average 32/33 degrees Celsius I am being told the rains are coming in soon and the temperature will drop; admittedly only to around 28/29/30, but it will be a welcome change. Oh I nearly forgot, I watched the sunrise a few days ago and it was simply magical, a picture just can't do the moment justice, but I tried.

The Diani Beach sunrise

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments, there better be comments.

As always the pictures are owned by the author and under their copyright. They are uploaded at a lower quality as my internet in Kenya is slow.

As always you can view all my photos so far on my Flickr account here - http://bit.ly/1dpb3gd

Or check them out on my Facebook page here – www.facebook.com/diaryofaprimatologist

Kwaheri (bye)

Disclaimer:

"The views and opinions expressed in the Diary of a Primatologist blog are purely my own and are not in any way linked to any organisations I may represent or work with unless otherwise stated. All photos are my own unless otherwise stated and a source will be provided where other photos are used; if they are yours and you would like them taken down then please just ask. The author retains full copyright for all content and photos and written permission is required before their use. The owner of the site is not liable for any content accessed through links posted."

Update from a primatologist in Kenya - I have arrived!

It's not every day you get chased by a Turkey while trying to look high up in a tree to identify a monkey with the baking hot African sun beaming down on you; or maybe it is?

Catch up:

For those of you that don't know I am now living in Diani Beach, Kenya working as a Field Researcher for Colobus Conservation. This is to gain experience working with wild primates and what the life of a researcher is like. I am here for six months and on my return will begin an MSc in Primate Conservation at Oxford-Brookes University.

Diani Beach (DB):

DB is a beautiful part of Kenya, situated on the South-East coast that boasts golden sands, turquoise water (which is very warm) and sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. Between all the 5 star hotels and stunning beach bars with chairs literally in the sea is partly fragmented coastal forest. This habitat is home to an amazing array of wildlife and of course primates. The star of the show is the Angolan black and white colobus monkey (colobus) and that is why Colobus Conservation is here.

Colobus Conservation (CC):

In one sentence CC are conserving the colobus monkey on the Kenyan coast.

Established in 1997 the organisation works in partnership with local communities to promote the conservation of the colobus, along with other local primates, and the unique coastal forest habitat on which they depend. Working on simple measures such as tree planting and building Colobridges (See picture below) are ensuring the preservation of the forests and the colobus. To learn more about CC click here.

What am I actually doing?

So my role as a field researcher means I go out into the surrounding areas to watch and record the behaviour and interactions of the different colobus monkey groups. I have to be able to identify the different individuals of the group and then spend time watching each one recording what they are doing. I am also recording how they interact with the other primates and predators in the area as well as where they sleep.

Not much is known about this species of colobus monkey and so continuous research is being undertaken to find out more. This information can then be used to better protect not only the Colobus monkey but the habitat they live in.

First few days in Kenya:

After travelling for 24 hours, with very little sleep I arrived at CC and was shown to where I would be living for the next six months. First thing I noticed is that there are monkeys everywhere, in the trees, on the roof and on the floor. As CC is a safe haven for them they have become very relaxed around humans here and you can get quite close to them.

I met some of the other volunteers and then unpacked and tried to relax. Being the hottest part of the year the temperature is around 33 degrees and the humidity is high; relaxing was not easy. What is nice though is having a chef making our lunch and dinner everyday bar Sunday, and most of the food is Vegan with some meat or fish done separately on occasion. This makes eating at CC very easy for me and most of the food is local African dishes which are lovely. Ugali is a type of mashed potato made from corn flour and water and chapattis is like a very thin pancake. The rest is mainly lots of bean, lentils and vegetables with the odd pizza or burger and chips thrown in.

We are on the beach side and have our own beach access, so within one minute I can be bathing on the glorious beach or swimming in the warm water. Not bad when the heat is just too much.

My work up until now has been mainly training on how to follow and record the colobus monkeys behaviour. Very soon I will be starting my actual study and I will talk about that in future posts.

For now that is it, please ask me any questions you may have and enjoy the pictures below.

You can find all my pictures on Flickr here – http://flic.kr/s/aHsjTEtx9K 

Or on my Facebook page here – www.facebook.com/diaryofaprimatologist

Me on the beautiful Diani Beach

The beach road near Colobus Conservation

The Angolan Black & White Colobus monkey

Neighbours turkey that likes to attack me. 

A Colobridge to ensure monkeys can cross the road safely

As always the pictures are owned by the author and under their copyright. They are uploaded at a lower quality as my internet in Kenya is slow.

Disclaimer:


"The views and opinions expressed in the Diary of a Primatologist blog are purely my own and are not in any way linked to any organisations I may represent or work with unless otherwise stated. All photos are my own unless otherwise stated and a source will be provided where other photos are used; if they are yours and you would like them taken down then please just ask. The author retains full copyright for all content and photos and written permission is required before their use. The owner of the site is not liable for any content accessed through links posted."