Cercopithecidae
Primates
Mammalia
163-167 days
1
EEP
Fruits, including meat and very hard fruit peels, are their staple foods. They also feed on seeds, leaves and small invertebrate animals.
18 years in the wild and 27 years in captivity.
These friendly primates belong to the genus Cercocebus, within which we find 6 different species. This genus is known as the “eye stripe” monkeys due to their white stripe on the top of their eyes. White-crowned mangabeys have brown to gray fur with white undersides of their limbs.
In general, they tend to live in multimale or multifemale groups where competition between neighboring groups is usually very aggressive. Groups can be of a maximum of 95 individuals. They usually live in gallery forests, palm groves, mangroves and swampy areas. These places serve as refuge when they detect a predator. They usually associate with arboreal monkeys to feed on the fruits that they drop.
With quadrupedal locomotion, they are diurnal and very terrestrial primates, spending 70% of the day on the ground. They have very powerful jaws that they use to crack the shells of nuts that other animals cannot crack.
Sexual behavior begins before the age of one year; juvenile males can mount sexually mature females three times longer than adult males.
They have characteristic white eyelids whose movements help them communicate. They also emit powerful vocalizations to stay in contact and thus be able to report possible dangers or intruders.
These mangabeys are the only primates, apart from man, that can be infected with leprosy.
