The L’ Hoest monkeys : The L’Hoest monkeys are called mountain monkeys because they prefer to stay in mountainous areas. It’s a guenon commonly seen the upper section of the Eastern Congo basin, they can live in any type of forested area for instance the mature lowland, the savanna woodland along mountain slopes, in the rain forests and also along the forest borders. They are among the best primates to see on your safari in Uganda or Rwanda
General description of the L’hoest monkey
The L’hoest very much looks like the Hamlyn’s monkey but have distinctive characteristic that distinguishes them from any other monkeys for instance, they have a very visible white bib on both sides of the cheeks and a black face. They also have hollow orange eyes and a bare pale violet skin surrounding them especially in adult males. Their bodies and those long legs are mainly black with some grizzled grey color except the chestnut area, which has a ‘saddle’ color. In terms of weight, fully grown-up males are often twice as heavy as the females, which are usually between 6-10kg compared to 3-4.5kilogrames for the females and they also have that really evident bright blue scrotum.
How they live and relate with each other
They live in very small groups with majority of the members being females and just one male, which is also the dominant one in that group.
In a group, the females are in most cases related. While the male ones only live with their mothers for a couple of years, the females will stay longer. Like all the other primates, the L’Hoest monkeys are very active during most hours of the day and retire late in the afternoon to go back to the tree branches to sleep. They wake up to hunt for food and the mothers always care to feed their little ones, they protect their babies from all predators at all cost. They feed on variety of foods but the fact that they are herbivores; they mainly feed on the leaves, the roots, mushrooms and herbs as well as small birds, tiny reptiles, eggs, among others
Where to find these monkeys in East Africa
In Uganda, the L’Hoest monkeys are seen in Kibale national park, a park that is common for the habituated chimpanzees, there is a number of the in Bwindi national park famous for the mountain gorillas. They are among the different primates that you will always see when you go out for the chimpanzee trek or mountain gorilla tracking in Bwindi impenetrable national park.
Visit Rwanda, volcanoes national park and you will see them during you gorilla tracking experience. Nyungwe national park is also a place where you will find lots of primates and one of them will be the L’hoest monkeys therefore a primates watching adventure to Nyungwe is the perfect opportunity you can have to see these monkeys.
How they reproduce
L’Hoest do have specific period during which they breed but the time highly depends on the area where they are living and once they conceive, it takes them five month to give birth and they give birth to just a single little one and usually it is during the night. The little one always remains in the care of the mother and other females in the group. Usually, they give birth towards the end of a dry season and this gives them the chance to lactate during the heavy rains.
During the process of giving birth, the baby is born with its body fully coated and eyes open, the mother eats it’s the placenta and then licks its baby clean as it carries it on the belly. Often, all females welcome and love the newly born in their group and together they nurse it until after a few months when it has a bit grown up. After a few mothers, the care the young receives from the mother and the other females continues although not as much as before until up to about two years when another baby arrives and all the attention and love is then directed towards that new born and the former is considered a group monkey then.
The male L’hoests have to leave their families earlier than the females and one of the signs that they are ready is when they reach sexual maturity. These monkeys can live up to 30 years of age in captivity. These are among the most attractive primates in Africa, which you can see during you primates to Uganda or Rwanda Safari adventure.
