The blue monkey or diademed monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) is a species of Old World monkey[3][4] native to Central and East Africa, ranging from the upper Congo River basin east to the East African Rift and south to northern Angola and Zambia. It sometimes includes Sykes', silver, and golden monkeys as subspecies.
Several subspecies are recognised:
Cercopithecus mitis boutourlinii - Boutourlini's blue monkey, found in Western Ethiopia
Cercopithecus mitis elgonis – Elgon blue monkey
Cercopithecus mitis heymansi – Lomami River blue monkey, found in Congo
Cercopithecus mitis kolbi – Kolb's monkey, found in Kenya
Cercopithecus mitis mitis – Pluto monkey, found in Angola
Cercopithecus mitis moloneyi – Moloney's blue monkey
Cercopithecus mitis opitsthosticus
Cercopithecus mitis schoutedeni – Schouteden's blue monkey, found in Congo
Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni – Stuhlmann's blue monkey
At times, some of these have been regarded as full species, and additional subspecies have been considered valid, while others are not recognized by all authorities.
Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania
Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania
C. m. stuhlmanni Kakamega Forest, Kenya
C. m. stuhlmanni Kakamega Forest, Kenya
Despite its name, the blue monkey is not noticeably blue; it has little hair on its face, and this does sometimes give a blue appearance, but it never has the vivid blue appearance of a mandrill, for example. It is mainly olive or grey apart from the face (which is dark with a pale or yellowish patch on the forehead - the "diadem" from which the species derives its common name), the blackish cap, feet, and front legs, and the mantle, which is brown, olive, or grey depending on the subspecies. Typical sizes range from 50 to 65 cm in length, (not including the tail, which is almost as long as the rest of the animal), with females weighing a little over 4 kg and males up to 8 kg.
The blue monkey is found in evergreen forests and montane bamboo forests, and lives largely in the forest canopy, coming to the ground infrequently. It is very dependent on humid, shady areas with plenty of water. It eats mainly fruit and leaves, but will take some slower-moving invertebrates. It prefers to live in tall trees, which provide both food and shelter, and is, therefore, like almost all guenons, suffering from the loss of its natural habitat. Where pine plantations replace natural forest, the monkey may be treated as a threat by foresters, since it sometimes strips bark from exotic trees in a search for food or moisture. It is also hunted for bushmeat.
