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Mary Schwalm Colobus Monkey contemplates life at the Central Park Zoo.

Black-and-white colobus monkey (Colobus guereza)
Where found : Equatorial Africa. These monkeys are highly arboreal and spend most of their time in trees.

Diet: Leaves. An amazing thing about these animals is that they have a two-chambered stomach, specifically designed to break down leaves. Unfortunately, because leaves are not a high-energy diet and they take a while to digest, colobus monkeys are not very active.

Life span: Up to 20 years in the wild and 30 years in captivity.

Interesting note: Not only does the amazingly long and beautiful white hair on this monkey’s back and tail break up its outline to confuse predators, but it also serves as a sort of parachute, slowing its descent when jumping great distances from tree limb to tree limb. Two of the adult females, Mac and Tana, have given birth this spring. For the first three months of their lives, these babies will be white and slowly accumulate the black fur of their parents. 1-year old Kima now has some competition for visitors’ attention.

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