DeBrazza's Monkey

About...

Class:  Mammalia

Order:  Primate

Family:  Cercopithecidae

Genus:  Cercopithecus neglectus

Size:  12 to 27 in. long; up to15 lb. Non-prehensile tail is 20 to 34 inches long.

Breeding:  Sexual maturity: 2.5 yrs females; 4 yrs males

Mating:  Can be at any time of year

Gestation:  177 to 187 days

No. of Young:  One infant

Lifestyle:  Families live in social units

Diet:  Leaves, fruit, other vegetation, and possibly insects.

Lifespan:  Up to 25 to 30 years in captivity

Threats to Survival:  Leopards, crested eagles and pythons are all predators of the DeBrazza’s monkey, however the largest threat is habitat destruction.  The DeBrazza’s Monkey is endangered in Kenya.

Habitat range: Eastern and Central Africa across southeastern Cameroon to southern Ethiopia and Uganda. 

These slim, graceful animals have an olive-gray color with a white mustache, a white beard, and an orange-red, crescent-shaped forehead. They have small faces, with large eyes and appear as though they are wearing dark glasses.  These monkeys have heavy, soft fur which may be brown, red, gray, yellow, or green with markings of white or other colors. 

Most Guenons are forest and rock-ledge dwellers, commonly found near riverbeds and swamps.  They mate at any time of the year, and after a gestation period of about seven months a single offspring is born.  Guenons become sexually mature at about three years of age.

DeBrazza's monkeys usually live in small family groups consisting of the parent pair and their offspring. They will sometimes live in a group with a single male, and multi-females. During the day, family members may mingle with other Guenon families or with other types of monkeys.  At night, each family of Guenons returns to its own area to sleep.