Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

Research Article

Roloway Guenon ( Cercopithecus diana roloway ) and White-Naped Mangabey ( Cercocebus atys lunulatus ) Prefer Mangrove Habitats in Tanoé Forest, South-Eastern Ivory Coast

¹Department of Genetics, University Felix Houphouet Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22

²Swiss Center for Scientific Research in Ivory Coast, 01 BP 1303 Abidjan 01

³Laboratory of Zoology and Animal Biology, Felix Houphouet Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast University, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22

⁴Cytology Laboratory and Animal Biology, University Jean Lorougnon Guede Daloa, BP 150 Daloa

*Corresponding Author:

Sery Gonedelé Bi
Department of Genetics
University Felix Houphouet Boigny
Abidjan, Ivory Coast
22 BP 582 Abidjan 22
Tel: +225 23 47 27 90
E-mail: gonedelebi@yahoo.fr

Received date: May 09, 2013; Accepted date: June 17, 2013; Published date: June 19, 2013

Citation: Bi SG, Bené JCK, Bitty EA, Kassé BK, Guessan AN, et al. (2013) Roloway Guenon (Cercopithecus diana roloway) and White-Naped Mangabey (Cercocebus atys lunulatus) Prefer Mangrove Habitats in Tanoé Forest, South-Eastern Ivory Coast. J Ecosys Ecograph 3:126. doi:10.4172/2157-7625.1000126

Copyright: © 2013 Bi SG, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and and source are credited.

There are three primate taxa which have the same range in West Africa (eastern Ivory Coast and western Ghana): Miss Waldron’s red colobus Piliocolobus badius waldronae, the Roloway guenon Cercopithecus diana roloway and the white-naped mangabey Cercocebus atys lunulatus. They were previously listed as critically endangered; however, Cercocebus atys lunulatus was recently downgraded to endanger. A series of surveys have been conducted since the early 1990s in the tropical forests of Ghana and Ivory Coast to survey thesee taxa. In 2006, these studies led to the conclusion that the Tanoé forest, south eastern Ivory Coast should be considered a top priority site for primate conservation in West Africa. From February 2008 to March 2008; and in March 2009, we carried out field surveys in the Tanoé Forest over 22 days to gather updated distribution information to assess the conservation status of all diurnal primate taxa occurring in that forest, with special focus on the red colobus, Roloway guenons and white-naped mangabeys. During walk surveys of 429.3 km by three teams, we failed to observe any red colobus monkey. Diana roloway guenons were encountered at 0.10 groups/Km in the flooded forest vs 0.65 groups/ km in mangroves and white-naped mangabeys were encountered at 0.07 groups/km in the flooded forest vs 0.50 groups/Km in mangroves. Both these taxa were significantly more frequently encountered in mangroves compared to flooded forests. The high observation rate of Roloway monkey and white-naped mangabey in mangroves seems to indicate an adaptive strategy developed by these taxa to avoid hunting pressure. In addition, with its abundant foliage and the permanent presence of water throughout the year, mangrove offers food for monkeys.

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