Junior Amboko called it an “amazing feeling” to look into the face of a new monkey species after years of tracking a black-furred primate in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Researchers now classify the animal as Colobus congoensis, a species that lives in dense tropical forest and had stayed hidden high in the canopy for years.
The finding, published in PLoS One, adds what researchers describe as the fifth African monkey species found in 75 years. That is more than a naming exercise: the team says the monkeys are hunted for meat, and formal recognition may help push them toward official protection.
Junior Amboko and Florida Atlantic University
Amboko, a PhD student at Florida Atlantic University, played a leading role in the search. He said the animal was so elusive that people often hear it before they see it, and described the monkey as “kind of shy.”
“As part of our search, we interviewed people in 52 villages close to where the animals live. And only people in eight villages [had ever seen] them,” he said. That gap between sound and sight helped explain why the monkey remained unrecognized by science even as people near the forest already knew it existed.
Lomami National Park search
Conservationists first reported seeing the unusual monkey in 2008 in Lomami National Park and captured one blurry photograph. Another sighting 10 years later prompted an international team to search more deliberately, using audio recordings, photography and detailed genetic studies to sort the animal from other colobus monkeys.
Prof Kate Detwiler of Florida Atlantic University said, “These are really important African monkeys that don't have thumbs.” She added, “They're these herbivores of the canopy that are a critical part of the ecosystem. We think they have a lot to do with processing seeds and germination in the forest.”
Colobus congoensis and Likweli
The animal’s bright facial markings set it apart: a black face with pinkish-orange lips. Detwiler said the unusual pattern could work as a visual signal to other animals or help the monkeys identify each other. The team also noted the species’ distinctive “roaring” call, another clue that helped distinguish it from related monkeys in the forest.
Some local people already knew the monkey and call it Likweli, a reminder that local knowledge and scientific classification do not always arrive together. Researchers think the animals are rare and restricted to a part of the forest where they can find the food and habitat they need, and they hope the new name now gives Colobus congoensis a better chance of official protection.
