POP 2: Report

Tamara McNeece

Anthropology: Primates

INTRODUCTION: Eastern Black and White Colobus Monkeys.

For my primate observation project, my choice was to observe two species: The Colobus

Monkey and the Western Lowland Gorilla. I will describe the taxonomy of the Eastern Black and White

Colobus Monkey. The scientific name Colobus Guereza. Kingdom- Animalia, Phylum- Chordata, Class-

Mammalia, Order- primates and Family is Cercopithecidae. They are small monkeys with a U-shaped

mantle of long white fur that descends from its shoulders and around its back. They also have whiskers,

a busy tail and white fur surrounds their black face (Anderson, Sydney,1982. Simon). They weigh 11 to

30 pounds. They eat a diet of leaves and life span is 22 years. Their range is East Africa in a tropical

habitat. Socially they live in territorial groups of nine, a single male and a number of offspring. The

name Colobus comes from the Greek word for mutilated because they do not have a thumb (AWF.org).

They are Usually hunted for their fur which humans use to make hats and capes out of. The biggest

threat to the Colobus monkey is their habitat loss.

HYPOTHESIS:

I had a few different ideas about these monkeys mostly behavioral and how do males and

females socially interact. However, I really wanted to know if the Colobus Monkeys more active in the

daytime vs. Evening? Are they nocturnal or diurnal?

METHODS:

At the Hogle Zoo I observed a total of 6 Colobus Monkeys. 3 adults and 3 children. The

enclosure is in a large open area with many trees and high barbed wire fence that surrounds it. I arrived

at the zoo around 1100 AM and ended up leaving around 4:00 PM. I watched them for about half an

hour when I first arrived. There were three monkeys perched on the tree tops at first. 1 mother who

coddling her baby on a branch and older male who I called the “Uncle Ivan” who was the biggest of all of

them. On the other side of the enclosure there are two kids horseplaying. I scanned the entire group IN

the first hour while also focusing on Ivans behavior because he seemed to be more active than the rest

using focal scan.

RESULTS:

During the first half hour of observations (daytime) for at least 21 minutes they exhibited rest mode.

Majority of the clan was sleeping. For the next 10 minutes I noticed Ivan had jumped down onto another

branch. On the opposite end the two babies had woken up and started to play. I took a break and

walked around the zoo to enjoy the other exotic animals. After leaving the polar bears unit I walked

back to check on the Colobus monkeys and surprise they were all awake now and very active! I started

my next half of observing at 2: 21 PM. Ivan was now on the opposite end of the enclosure. the younger

monkeys were jumping on this little rope and one landed on one of the adults. You can tell mother was

annoyed when she couldn’t control them (much like humans!) She exhibited aggressive behavior. They

started to eat something from ground some branches or leaves, I think.

DISCUSSION:
 To restate my Hypothesis from earlier, Are Colobus Monkeys more active during the morning or

afternoon? According to my research I learned that the Colobus monkeys are more active in the

afternoon. These monkeys are very agile and quadrupedal. They are not solitary animals they live in

groups or clans. The mothers cling to their young and protect them. They communicate through body

language and sounds.

If I am comparing these primates to humans, they are quite similar (IMO). Some humans are

social and some aren't. The groups I watched was very social and the females were attached to their

young. There was one adult male and two adult females and 3 babies. Uncle Ivan is the alpha male or

possibly the father to all the young monkeys. He regulates the group and keeps the kids in line. This

behavior is very similar to human families where the father is the disciplinarian.

INTRODUCTION: WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLA

For my second primate species I observed the Western Lowland Gorilla. They are the smallest of

the three Gorilla subspecies. The scientific name is Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla . They have short hair sparse

on the brows; color is brown grey, often red on crown; adult male becomes light gray on back and

thighs; nostrils flared; a prominent lip above nasal septum (grooves, 2001). The males stand about 5ft

6 inches. Arms are longer than their legs. An adult male weighs 396 lbs. Their range is southeast Nigeria,

Cameroon, and Angola. Diet is plants and their herbivores. They are non-territorial and live in harems

that have 1 to 4 adult males. The biggest threat they face in the African wild is being hunted for their
bush meat. Especially with the growing human population. Their Taxonomy is Kingdom Animalia,

Phylum-Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order- Primates, Family-Hominidae.

HYPOTHESIS:

Before I observed the Western Lowland gorilla, I wanted to find out how their behavior differs

according to sex. Are females' solitary or social? And how do they show dominance?

METHODS:

At the Hogle Zoo the gorillas were housed inside a glass enclosure. They had a door that led to

the outside enclosure that was closed for some reason. Inside they had many ropes, swings, and a

hammock. It's amazing to learn that we humans share almost 99% of our DNA with these great apes.

African Apes use terrestrial quadrupedally known as knuckle-walking (Rose, M.D. Primates 14 (1973).

They absorb water from the nutritious foods that they eat and they can't swim.

There was one silverback Male names Husani and two females and child. At first, I noticed that

the mother was on the opposite side of the enclosure with her child. She didn’t leave the infant behind

at any time of the day. On the other end of the glass enclosure were the juvenile males who were

throwing feces as well as eating it which was bizarre at first. Is that a normal behavior in the wild? My

first instinct was that these gorillas are bored or stressed being in captive environment with little

control. Husani the silverback was pacing back and forth and looking out the opening of the door.

There are so many other factors and variables that could make a difference in their behavior that day. I

wish had more time and money lol to visit the zoo again and maybe see how they act outside vs. Inside.

DISCUSSION
 Gorillas are known to be social animals that live in troops. My observations confirmed this. They

spent most of their day in Rest, Move, and Feed. I did not see any of the apes act aggressively other than

throwing the feces around the cage. the females are not solitary and live in polygamous groups often

sharing the Silverback Male who is the dominant one in the group. Gorillas show their dominance by

beating their chest then charging at you. Luckily, I didn’t witness any of that so I can't come to a

conclusion of the social structure I observed. However, they are sexually dimorphic with the male being

3 times bigger than females.

There are many similarities apes have with human. Through research I've learned female gorillas

are taught how to raise a child vs. It being instinctive the also carry their young for up to 8.5 months

which is similar to us humans. They allow other member of the troop to care for their young called allo

parenting. Their social structure seems similar to the Colobus monkeys because they are diurnal.

however, apes are more intelligent and capable of being trained to show you their body parts. They

have opposable thumbs and feet!

 REFERENCES

https://gorillas.org/solitary-silverbacks-bachelors-forest/

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Colobus_angolensis/#:~:text=Angolan%20colobus

%20monkeys%20are%20diurnal%20and%20highly%20arboreal%2C%20which%20may,predators

%20that%20feed%20at%20night.

https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/colobus-monkey

https://legacy.hoglezoo.org/meet_our_animals/animal_finder/western_lowland_gorilla/

#:~:text=The%20Zoo%20currently%20houses%20three,1977%20at%20Lincoln%20Park%20Zoo.