Tana River mangabey

Tana River mangabey
Tana River mangabey[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Cercocebus
Species: C. galeritus
Binomial name
Cercocebus galeritus
Peters, 1879
Tana River Mangabey range

The Tana River mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus) is a highly endangered species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. Some authorities have included the taxa agilis and sanjei as subspecies of this species,[3] while others award these full species status.[1]

It is endemic to riverine forest patches along the lower Tana River in southeastern Kenya. It is threatened by habitat loss and degradation, which has increased in recent years.[4] This species was, together with the equally endangered Tana River red colobus, the main reason for the creation of the Tana River Primate Reserve in 1978,[5] but human encroachment within this reserve continues.[6] Recently, it has been suggested that 20,000 hectares of the Tana River Delta should be transformed into sugarcane plantations, but this has, temporarily at least, been stopped by the High Court of Kenya.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 153. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100431. 
  2. ^ Butynski, T. M., Struhsaker, T., Kingdon, J. & De Jong, Y. (2008). Cercocebus galeritus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 January 2009.
  3. ^ Grubb, P., Butynski, T. M., Oates, J. F., Bearder, S. K., Disotell, T. R., Groves, C. P., & Struhsaker, T. T. (2003). Assessment of the diversity of African primates. International Journal of Primatology. 24. pp. 1301–1357. 
  4. ^ Wieczkowski, J. & Mbora, D. N. M. (2000). "Increasing threats to the conservation of endemic endangered primates and forests of the lower Tana River, Kenya". African Primates 4: 32–40. 
  5. ^ "Kenya Wildlife Service – Tana River Primate Reserve". www.kws.org. http://www.kws.org/kws/parks/parks_reserves/TRPR.html. Retrieved 2009-12-30. [dead link]
  6. ^ Kenya’s rare monkey species threatened with extinction . African Conservation Foundation. Accessed 2008-07-20
  7. ^ Tana gets temporary reprieve. BirdLife International. Accessed 2008-07-20