Samburu Monkeys

Category: Samburu Survey | Date: Mar 18 2009 | By: samburumonkeys

After twenty months of on-the-ground assessments of six rare primate species in Samburu, the verdict is out! There was some good news and some bad news as well. Below is a brief summary;

The aim of this survey was to validate presence and map the distribution of six rare primates species in Samburu. The species are; the de Brazza’s, the Sykes and the Patas monkeys, the Somali and the Senegal lesser galagos and the Endangered Mt Uarges guereza. Very little was known on the presence and status of the six species in the district prior to this study. Below is a brief summary of the findings;

De Brazza’s monkey
From the beginning of the survey in April 2007, six more groups of de Brazza’s monkey were recorded on the northern Mathews range, an addition to the 24 groups recorded in the year 2006 during the first survey of this newly discovered population. Between May 2008 and December 2008, two new groups were sighted in Sererit – southern Ndoto.

Patas monkey
Apart from the one stray (from Laikipia) Patas monkey reported by Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants which he saw on the western parts of Samburu National Reserve, no other Patas monkeys were seen in the district. The conclusion is that there are no Patas monkey is Samburu.

Sykes’ monkey
Reports about a small population Sykes’ monkey on the northern fringes of Leroghi forest – at Ang’ata Nanyuki were found to be unreliable as no monkey was seen in 8 months of intensive ground search in that area. Based on this information, our conclusion is that here are no Sykes monkeys in Leroghi forest or any other part of Samburu. Mt Kenya remains as the northern limit of the species range.

Mt Uarges Guereza
The Endangered Mt Uarges guereza was found in substantial numbers distributed over central and southern parts of Mathews range forest and southern Parts of Ndoto forest. The population in the neighboring Kirisia Hills was last seen in 2006. The few remaining are believed to have taken refuge in the dense inaccessible part of the forest (Saanata) following two decades of persistent poaching by local people who highly value its skin.

Lesser Galagos
The Senegal lesser galago was found to be widespread in the district. Eight live specimens were collected and released at South Horr (Mt Nyiro) and Mathew range after taking body measurements. However, the Somali lesser galago was not seen though there were reliable reports of sightings in the southern drier of the district.

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Iregi Mwenja

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