THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MISS WALDRON’S RED COLOBUS

There may not even be a good photograph of Miss Waldron's Red Colobus in existence. If so, there never will be. From Audubon Magazine           Out of the 608 known primate species, up to 20% are “critically imperiled” and luck may have just run out for a monkey called Miss Waldron’s red colobus. This loud and colorful species seems to have vanished without a trace from its habitat in Ghana and the Ivory Coast (West Africa). “It’s like walking through a school with no children,” says W. Scott McGraw, an anthropologist at Ohio State University. “It’s eerie.”           McGraw has been searching for any evidence of Miss Waldron’s red colobus for the past seven years with other concerned researchers. The monkey was last seen in 1978. Even though it takes up to 25 years for an extinction to become sanctioned; right now, Miss Waldron’s red colobus is presumed extinct. Scientists fear that the disappearance of this species may signal the first primate extinction during the 20th century. It is the first primate to vanish in 300 years.           Miss Waldron’s red colobus was named in 1936 by Willoughby P. Lowe. (It is thought that he named the primate after his companion.) These monkeys are unafraid of humans making them an easy catch. In fact, researchers fear that it is local hunters who have wiped them out.           There are approximately 18 different species and subspecies of the red colobus monkey living in Africa today. The most critically endangered are the Iana River red colobus (Kenya) and the Bouvier’s red colobus (Republic of Congo). Three other species are considered endangered. They are the Bioko red colobus (Bioko Island), Preuss’s red colobus (southwest Cameroon) and the Zanzibar red colobus (Zanzibar). Duke University biologist Tom Struhsaker says, “Only a few can be said to be reasonably safe over the next 20-25 years.” Miss Waldron's Red Colobus. From Parade magazine           The problem appears to be that humans and animals are competing for the same resources in these areas. W. Scott McGraw states that scientists fear it’s “the beginning of a larger series of extinctions making its way across Africa.” Many African countries cannot afford the cost of forest management and red colobus monkeys are bright, easy targets for poachers. Stewart Hudson (executive director of the Jane Goodall Institute) says, “Hunters aren’t thinking it’s a primate—only that it’s protein.” The Oustalet’s red colobus (Central and West Africa) can still be seen in larger numbers because the human population of that region is lower.           “Miss Waldron’s red colobus is a spark that is the first sign of conflagration and we should take heed of it,” says Jane Goodall, a primatologist who has devoted her life to the preservation and study of chimpanzees. Struhsaker and McGraw are strongly urging conservation organizations around the world to fight poaching. One strategy involves a trust fund set up to employ native people (even former poachers) as educators and forest police. Also, last October, the White House and Congress created the Great Ape Fund which allocates $5 million a year for habitat protection in Asia and Africa. This is an issue that needs to be taken seriously before many of these animals are destroyed. In his short, informative article for Time magazine, Charles P. Alexander asks, “How long will earth be a hospitable place for humanity when it is no longer a fit home for our next of kin?” To learn more on endangered primates visit: The Conservation International website Click on “Search” and then type in “primate.” and Jane Goodall's website           “I anguish over the suffering endured by hundreds of chimpanzees at the hands of humans. They suffer in the wild as their habitats are destroyed and as mothers are shot and their infants seized”.                     --Jane Goodall from Brutal Kinship                     Photos and text by Michael Nichols; Essay by Jane Goodall                     Aperture Foundation, NY, NY 1999. Further resources from this book: Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care PO Box 3746 Boynton Beach, FL 33424 1-561-963-8050 Fauna Foundation PO Box33 Chambly, Quebec J3L 4BI International Primate Protection League PO Box 766 Summerville, SC 29484 1-803-871-2280 www.ippl.org References: ”Monkey See, Monkey Doomed” by Rene S. Ebersole Audubon magazine; Jan-Feb 2001. “A Monkey Disappears—Forever” by Lyric Wallwork Winik Parade magazine of the Sunday Republican; Springfield, MA Sunday, Feb 4, 2001. “Death Row” by Charles P. Alexander Time magazine, Jan 17, 2000.