Dryas monkey

The Dryas monkey (Cercopithecus dryas), also known as Salonga monkey or ekele, is a little-known species of guenon found only in the Congo Basin, restricted to the left bank of the Congo River. It is now established that the animals that had been classified as Cercopithecus salongo (the common name being Zaire Diana monkey) were in fact Dryas monkeys. Some older sources treat the Dryas monkey as a subspecies of the Diana monkey and classify it as C. diana dryas, but it is geographically isolated from any known Diana monkey population.

While the Dryas monkey had been considered data deficient, evidence suggests it is very rare and its total population possibly numbers fewer than 200 individuals. Consequently, its status was changed to critically endangered in the 2008 IUCN Red List. Along with being listed by the IUCN this species is also listed on Appendix II of CITES.

Physical description

An adult male Dryas monkey is characterized by its black muzzle, white whiskers, and short, white facial beard. The dorsal surface of its body, along with the coronal crown, is a grayish chestnut color. This species also has white on the ventral side of its body, tail, the bottom portion of the limbs, and the buttocks. The upper portion of the limbs resembles a similar color to the rest of its body, being a dark-grey/black-brown color.