The olive colobus is a small colobus monkey with an olive-colored back and gray underparts. It lives in the lower layers of West African rainforest.
Its back fur is olive with a brown tinge, and its underparts are gray. A small crest sits on the crown, and its thumb is greatly reduced.
At Kakum Conservation Area in Ghana, researchers studied four primate species in forest where logging had reduced feeding resources. Over 12 months they compared flowers, fruit, seeds, and feeding sites in the lower, middle, and upper canopy. The foods and feeding heights differed among the species.
Fruit distinguished Olive Colobus in the analysis, while seeds distinguished Western Black-and-white Colobus. In the rainy season, primates selected upper canopy, flowers, and fruit more often; in the dry season, middle canopy and seeds were selected more. Feeding sites and foods also varied between the forest centre, inner zone, and periphery.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Logging had reduced feeding resources in the study forest. Based on differences among species, seasons, and forest zones, the authors concluded that strict measures were needed to facilitate forest regeneration at Kakum.