- Samango Monkey
Samango monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) live mainly in evergreen forests in Africa. In Vumba we see them often jumping from tree to tree or just quietly hanging around eating fruits, flowers and leaves. The small ones play around and shace each other while the big ones shake their head at the waste of so much energy.
Samango’s don’t know the meaning of monogamie. A single dominant male- lucky bugger- lives with his antourage of females, infants and subadults and is surrounded by related females. The males (7-9 kg; 1,4 m ) are larger than the females (4-5 kg; 1,1m) They defend the territory and notify the troop, that can count up to 35 members, when something fishy is going on. Their calls are one of the more intriguing noises of the forest: a loud “explosive bark” and a deep “gutheral unk” tell you that the Samango’s have spotted you and are keeping an eye. Breeding is seasonal. A single baby is born during the onset of the rainy season. Gestation lasts 140 days and weaning occurs after 9 months.
