Golden Monkey Tracking in MGNP

1.The Golden monkey is an Albertine Rift Endemic. You are probably wondering what exactly that means!

The Albertine Rift is a geographic area of mountains and valley that is confined between the northern side of Lake Albert and the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika. It includes a part of Uganda, but also portions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania. “Endemic” is a term that refers to the population of a species that is confined to a certain area.

2.The Golden monkey, for instance, used to live in broader areas of Uganda and other African nations, but can now only be found in the Albertine Rift. The Albertine Rift is a place of magnificent beauty and unsurpassed biodiversity. Over half of all of Africa’s bird species call it home, along with just under half of its mammals and nearly a quarter of its plants and amphibians (along with quite a few humans). The Golden monkey is certainly in good company in this protected area.

Sadly, the Golden monkey belongs to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species.

According to the IUCN, the Golden monkey has been an endangered species since 1996. The IUCN includes the Golden monkey on this list for a few reasons. The Golden monkey is estimated to have a population of only 2,500-3,500, and this population is dwindling. The Golden monkey’s habitat is now confined to an area about 5,000 square kilometers in the Albertine Rift.

The Golden monkey lives mostly in bamboo forests, and are subject to the constant threat of habitat loss and deforestation. The Golden monkey’s have few animal predators (with certain bird species being an occasional, but relatively inconsequential, exception) so the main threats to its life are humans who may set illegal traps and snares, or cut down the bamboo that Golden monkey’s lives depend on.

There are many conservation efforts underway to protect this special animal, but as for now it is still endangered. Saving the Golden monkey means saving Uganda’s bamboo forests!

the Golden monkey has been known to snack on up to 30 species of plants, its favorite food is bamboo. The Golden monkey can adapt its meals to the seasons, in the dry season they eat almost exclusively fruits, while in the rainy season they primarily dine upon bamboo shoots and buds of other plants.

The mostly herbivorous, munching on bamboo leaves and shoots, as well as other types of fruits, flowers, and leaves, it can also be guilty of enjoying the occasional insect and invertebrate!