Colours of Wildlife: Samango Monkey
Created | Updated Sep 24, 2017
Samango Monkey
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
This time I have for you something very close to my heart! This is a Samango Monkey, Cercopithecus albogularis. Its name comes from the Zulu, 'iNsimango'. This is the second small monkey species occurring in South Africa, apart from the Vervet monkey. This monkey is part of a huge and varied complex of monkeys called the 'gentle monkeys', which include the putty-nosed monkey as well. Numerous forms are known, occurring mostly in central to East Africa. It is not clear where to draw lines as to species, superspecies or subspecies. The group as a whole is sometimes considered a single species, Cercopithecus nictitans, and sometimes it is divided into three or four species – in which case our Samango comes out as species mitis or albogularis, and sometimes it is divided even more, in which case our Samango is not affected but several Central African forms are then considered full-blown species. The Samango as such is widespread in south-eastern Africa, fairly typical forms reaching Kenya (where they're called Samango, Blue or Sykes Monkey) and even Somalia and Ethiopia. But this typical form still hides a lot of diversity. For instance, it has recently been determined that the Samango monkeys in the Soutpansberg region close to where I live are genetically distinct from the others, perhaps deserving being recognized as a sub-species, which would immediately make it endemic (restricted) to South Africa and also quite endangered.
Unassuming Monkeys
For all the complexity residing in its genes and its scattered populations all over Southern to Eastern Africa, the Samango Monkey has little that really strikes you when you first see it. It is a mid-sized but often (in the dominant males) stout and shaggy-haired money, generally dark, except for the white throat, chest and belly which aren't often seen well. It has a long, blackish and usually drooping tail. Samangos appear placid and unhurried, but are able to quickly disappear amidst the leafy treetops if feeling threatened. They're often seen as ghost-like forms wafted in and out of the canopy along with the wisps of mist of the moist, mountain forests where they live. It is quite a special event if you manage to get a good look at one – sometimes the big male of the troop would be perching on a bare branch, doing sentry duty for the sake of the others. Most of the time these monkeys are heard rather than seen. The dominant male gives a low booming call, as well as a loud 'pyow' bark, these sounds resonating through the forest or over the treetops. Even though these loud calls are infrequent, they are audible from far away, and on a hike through the forest you'll hear many of them. But they happen to be quite tough to pinpoint direction-wise!
When you see this monkey well, you'll be touched by its soulful eyes and mournful face! They have big, puffy cheeks, and a protruding eave of eyebrow fur to shade their eyes from the occasionally bright sun up above the canopy – even though most days are cloudy and dim. Their ears are mostly hidden in the long fur, marked by just a couple of white tufts. They also have a small moustache of white hairs on their muzzle, and a white chin. Their nostrils are slit-like and vertically oriented. Males have larger and more protruding muzzles than females, housing their big, sharp canine teeth. The dominant male will have the largest weaponry, which he'll employ in dealing with any threat – whether other, challenging Samango males, or predators. Though leopards will catch these monkeys, they're capable of fleeing onto thin branches and twigs where the big cats can't follow. Young monkeys are at risk from the huge and powerful Crowned Eagle. The troop lookouts are especially attentive towards these, watching the skies and giving a succession of loud barks upon spotting aerial danger. The troop responds to these by rapidly getting down from all exposed spots and into the dense branches.
It was only when I was a teenager that I even realized that these monkeys exist! The only monkey I knew until then was the Vervet. These are conspicuous in so many nature reserves, including the Kruger National Park, and even outside of the reserves around towns and farms. They're often on the ground, in the open, and will approach people if there's hope of begging for or sneakily snatching a titbit. You can't miss them. Contrast the spectre-like Samango, which silently slides from tree to tree high over your head, as you crane your neck but glimpse little more than momentary dark shadows. This indeed is how I first saw them, on a long and arduous hike through the Grootbos (the 'Great Forest') when I was thirteen years old. We were with experienced forest explorers, and they pointed out to us the monkeys, and their booming and barking calls. I was intrigued and instantly fell in love with these enigmatic monkeys. Since then I've been watching out for them whenever I am in the forest, and have indeed accumulated a few good sightings.
The forests of South Africa are not nearly as diverse and rich as the rainforests found up in the equatorial regions. They are also very limited in extent, covering less than one percent of the country. They can't sustain several species of monkey. Indeed the Samango monkey alone is able to survive here. Samangos do this by way of specialized digestive systems. Their hind-gut is enlarged, and house special little bacteria that can digest cellulose, the tough, structural component of plant leaves and bark. Samangos will eat fruit when they can get it, but if not, can sustain themselves for a while on leaves. They're not specialized leaf-eaters like colobus monkeys though. When eating fruit, they'll often consume only the flesh, discarding the peels and stones. Apart from the fruit and leaves, they also eat flowers, and a few insects and other invertebrates. They travel about 1.5 km/1 mile each day, in search of food. They have mid-morning and mid-afternoon siestas, during which they rest and let the leaves in their bellies ferment and digest.
The troops number about thirteen to fourteen members on average, but sometimes more than thirty. They typically consist of a single, big, dominant male, and his females, and their young to juvenile offspring. Females establish a hierarchy among themselves based on their relatedness, this being a strong factor bonding the troop together. The male on his part looks out for threats and decides where the troop goes. He'll lead a while, then let the others catch up and pass him by, then lead a bit more. If troop members become too widely dispersed, he'll let out a bark so that they can all get back to him. He'll challenge the males of intruding troops. These monkeys rarely fight. Indeed, conflicts are often settled merely by a raising of their shaggy eyebrows! The dominant male is sometimes replaced by other males … the typical tenure of a dominant male is one to three years. Males who don't manage to secure their own troops, roam the forest as bachelors, sometimes in association with other males. Very large troops can split up into two or three new troops.
Samangos are not prolific breeders. Indeed, I see very few really small monkeys. Births happen usually in spring or summer, when the rains are happening and many trees are flowering and fruiting. Only a single baby is born at a time – very rarely twins. The newborn monkeys are uniformly dark-coloured, acquiring the lighter patches as they mature. They're weaned at the age of nine months to one year.
At present, samango monkeys are not considered threatened as a species, although as I said the Soutpansberg form, if recognized as a distinct form or subspecies, would indeed be endangered. Samangos suffer from the fragmentation of their forest habitat – these now being divided into blocks, with plantations or orchards in between. Samangos are often persecuted as vermin for damaging young plantation trees or raiding orchards for fruit. But they do occur in protected and reasonably pristine regions, so we're hoping for the best.
