Werre, J: The Niger Delta Red Colobus

The Niger Delta red colobus was discovered in 1993, a testimony to the limited research conducted in this ecosystem. Due to this lack of biological data this book should provide a good foundation for those interested in studying the Niger Delta s environment. This study aims to investigate the monkey s ecology, behavior, distribution and status. During initial surveys it soon became clear that red colobus had a limited distribution and that the population was already under threat. In order to support conservation efforts in the delta the study s focus became to understand why the monkey s distribution area was limited to the central delta. An analysis of the red colobus ecology and two sections of forest both within and outside their distribution area was conducted to determine what factors could determine habitat availability. It was found that due to the large size of the red colobus groups, and their requirement to maintain cohesion, food species would need to be distributed in patches. Outside the red colobus distribution area food species were much more evenly distributed and would have required groups to split up over a large area.