| Linguistics |
| Actual scientific name : |
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Colobus polykomos |
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| Old scientific name : |
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Colobus polykomos prigoginei |
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| French name : |
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Colobe blanc et noir d'Afrique occidentale |
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| English name : |
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King Colobus, Western Black-and-White Colobus |
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| Vernacular name : |
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| Mpulumba (Kikaonde); Mpulumba (Lunda); Mpulumba (Kibemba) | |
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| Zoology |
| Call : |
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| Description : |
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Length: between 45 and 70 cm (without the tail); average weight: 9 kg. Males are bigger than females. The tail is very long, measuring between 50 and 100 cm. Body is covered with long and shiny black hair. Chest, whiskers and tail are white. Face is black. Presence of prominent rump callosities. No cheek pouches. Hands have only 4 fingers as thumbs are reduced to mere tubercles. |
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| Habitat : |
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Forests, savannah.
In Katanga, known from the Kabobo’ Mount, north of Kalemie. In the rest of the province, found around rain or swampy forests.
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| Behaviour : |
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Diurnal and arboreal animals. Climb and jump from tree to tree with agility. Usually live in small troop comprised of 1 to 3 males and 3 to 4 females. Females often engage in grooming behaviour.
When alarmed, they emit barks and growls. Can remain still for hours.
Live for about 20 years. |
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| Diet : |
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Mostly leaves.
In order to digest cellulose, king colobus’ stomach is multi-chambered. |
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| Life history : |
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After a gestation period of about 6 months, females give birth to a young. |
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| Distribution in Katanga : |
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| History, Ethnology, Sociology |
| Interactions with humans : |
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None. Sometimes steal a few palm nuts. |
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| Fishing, hunting : |
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Hunted for its meat and for its fur. |
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| Feeding : |
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Its meat is consumed. |
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| Breeding, taming : |
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Difficult to keep in captivity. |
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| Uses of skin or other body parts : |
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Skins are often sold to tourists as souvenirs. |
Warning :
This database was established according to official pieces of work and with the help of famous scientists. However, there might be some errors.
The vernacular names were collected in the field and in the colonial literature from the first part of the 20th century. The monks who established the first dictionaries were not necessarily informed naturalists. Therefore, errors must have been committed.
We invite everyone who could help us to improve this working tool to contact us in order to correct us and share her/his knowledge with us.
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ROOT > Vertebrata (Vertebrates) > Mammalia (Mammals) > Primates > Cercopithecidae (monkeys, baboons)
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