Tana River Red Colobus, Procolobus rufomitratus - Top 25 Most Endangered Primates

Illustration © 2007 by Stephen Nash. Tana River Red Colobus
Procolobus rufomitratus Peters, 1879
Kenya
(2002, 2004, 2006)

The gallery forests of the lower Tana River, Kenya, are home to two Critically Endangered primates, the Tana River red colobus and the Tana River mangabey, Cercocebus galeritus Peters, 1879. Along with six other primates, they inhabit small patches of forest along a 60-km stretch of river, from Nkanjonja to Mitapani (01°55'S, 40°05'E). While the other species of monkeys have larger geographic distributions, the red colobus and mangabey are restricted to these forests.
The two species receive some protection in approximately 13 km² of forest within the 169-km² Tana River Primate National Reserve (TRPNR). Forest loss to agriculture, however, has increased greatly over the last 15 years or so, and it is estimated that about 50% of the original vegetation has been lost. In addition, local people continue to depend on the remaining forest for materials to build homes and canoes, for the collection of wild honey and other non-timber products. Further losses of habitat have occurred due to the failure of the Tana Delta Irrigation Project’s (TDIP) rice-growing scheme (under the administration of the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority and financing from Japan International Cooperation Agency) to protect forest patches on their land.
A consequence of this continuing loss and degradation of forest is that the populations of the red colobus and the mangabey are believed to have each declined to fewer than 1,000 individuals. Ominously, new threats are now on the horizon with a proposal to establish a large sugar cane plantation in the TDIP area. This new plantation is likely to result in a large influx of people and an increase in the demand for forest resources.
A 5-year World Bank/GEF project begun in 1996 to enhance conservation and protection of the primates and forests was terminated prematurely due to poor project management. This left responsibility for the conservation and protection of the Tana River’s remaining forests and primates entirely to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Nevertheless, there are some positive developments. In 2005, more than 250 families who farmed within the TRPNR were voluntarily relocated to Kipini (about 90 km away) by the KWS. In addition, there appears to be an increasing concern for forest and biodiversity conservation among the people of the area and a major focus of action among community-based organizations is likely to be reforestation and ecotourism activities over the next few decades.
However, given the current level of threat for these primates, it will take many years before there is sufficient change on the ground to reverse the long-standing decline of the populations of the Tana River red colobus and the Tana River mangabey.

David N. M. Mbora & Thomas M. Butynski

References
Butynski, T. M. and G. Mwangi. 1995. Census of Kenya’s endangered red colobus and crested mangabey. African Primates 1: 8–10.
Butynski, T. M. and G. Mwangi. 1994. Conservation status and distribution of the Tana River red colobus and crested mangabey. Report to Zoo Atlanta, Georgia, Kenya Wildlife Service, National Museums of Kenya, Institute of Primate Research, and East African Wildlife Society, Nairobi, Kenya. 68pp.
Luke, Q., R. Hatfield and P. Cunneyworth. 2005. Rehabilitation of the Tana Delta Irrigation Project Kenya: An Environemtal Assessment. Report to Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), Conservation International, Arlington, VA. Website: . Accessed 23 February, 2007.
Marsh, C. W. 1985. A survey of Tana River primates. Unpublished report to the Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya.
Mbora, D. N. M. and W. C. McGrew. 2002. Extra-group sexual consortship in the Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus)? Folia Primatol. 73: 210–213.
Mbora, D. N. M. and D. B. Meikle. 2004. Forest fragmentation and the distribution, abundance and conservation of the Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus). Biol. Conserv. 118: 67–77.
Mbora, D. N. M. and D. B. Meikle. 2004. The value of unprotected habitat in conserving endangered species: Case study of the Tana River red colobus in eastern Kenya. Biol. Conserv. 120: 91–99.
Mbora, D. N. M. and E. Munene. 2006. Gastrointestinal parasites of critically endangered primates endemic to Tana River Kenya; the Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus) and the crested mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus). J. Parasitol. 92: 928–932.
Wieczkowski, J. and D. N. M. Mbora. 2000. Increasing threats to the conservation of endemic endangered primates and forests of the lower Tana River, Kenya. African Primates 4(1–2): 32–40.
Wieczkowski, J., D. N. M. Mbora, A. Kariuki, A. and S. Strum. 2001. Tana River Primate and Habitat Monitoring Project. Report to Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, Great Falls, Virginia. 13pp.

Suggested citation:
Mbora, D. N. M. and Butynski, T. M. 2007. Tana River Red Colobus, Procolobus rufomitratus Peters, 1879. In: Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2006–2008, R. A. Mittermeier et al. (compilers), p.9. Unpublished report, IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), and Conservation International (CI), Arlington, VA.