Western red colobus
| Western red colobus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Cercopithecidae |
| Genus: | Piliocolobus |
| Species: | P. badius |
| Binomial name | |
| Piliocolobus badius (Kerr, 1792) | |
| Western Red Colobus range (green — extant, orange — possibly extinct) | |
The western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), also known as the bay red colobus, rust red colobus or Upper Guinea red colobus, is a species of Old World monkey in West African forests from Senegal to Ghana. All other species of red colobuses have formerly been considered subspecies of P. badius. The monkey is a frequent prey of the common chimpanzee. In 1994, western red colobus monkeys infected many chimpanzees with Ebola virus after being hunted and consumed by the chimps.