Classroom lesson · Wildlife · 🇪🇹 Ethiopia

The black-and-white colobus monkey

The acrobat of the Ethiopian forests, with a cape of long white fur

An Abyssinian black-and-white colobus monkey on a branch with its long white tail

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The black-and-white colobus monkey is one of the most beautiful monkeys in the forests of Ethiopia. They are deep black, with long flowing white fur on their shoulders and tail, like a cape. When they jump between trees, the white fur streams behind them like a flag.

Tell me more

Colobus monkeys spend almost their whole life in the trees. They can leap distances of 15 metres from one branch to another - more than the length of a school bus. Their long white tails act like rudders, helping them steer in mid-air.

Unusually for monkeys, they have no thumbs on their hands - just four fingers. Their name 'colobus' comes from a Greek word meaning 'shortened'. Scientists think losing the thumb helped them swing through branches faster, like four hooks instead of five.

Colobus monkeys eat mostly leaves - even tough, hard-to-digest ones that other animals can't manage. Their stomachs are made of several compartments, a bit like a cow's, so they can break down the leaves slowly over many hours.

Babies are born pure white - no black at all. They get cared for by their mum, their aunties, and their older sisters, all passing the baby gently around. The white fades to black over a few months. Watching a tree full of colobus monkeys - with one snowy white baby in the middle - is one of the great sights of an Ethiopian forest.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

01Why might it help to have no thumbs if you spend your whole life swinging through trees?
02Imagine being born white and turning black-and-white as you grow. Are there things about humans that change as we get older?
03Colobus monkeys live almost entirely up in the trees. What would you find easy and hard about a life lived above the ground?

Try this

Classroom activity

On a long strip of paper, mark out 15 metres - the distance a colobus monkey can leap. Compare with the longest jumper in your class. How much further does the monkey go? Then discuss what helps the monkey jump so far.

The black-and-white colobus monkey

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Discussion prompts

Classroom activity

Other things that make Ethiopia special

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