Roloway Monkeys

Status

Critically Endangered
Size

Around 4 kg
Threat

Poaching
Distribution

West Africa
Diet

Herbivore

Meet the UK's only Roloway Monkeys at Yorkshire Wildlife Park!

Roloway Monkeys are one of the world’s most endangered primates! The striking black and white Roloway monkey is native to Ghana in West Africa. Yorkshire Wildlife Park are home to a really important male and female pair from the European Breeding programme. Roloway monkeys are on the verge of extinction in the wild. They are threatened in the wild by hunting and loss of habitat. Rarely seen, they are part of the primate group known as Guenons, which includes the Diana Monkey. YWP are working hard to ensure this species does not face imminent extinction.

Where in the park?

Step foot on a safari adventure through the heart of Africa!

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CONSERVATION

In 2020 Yorkshire Wildlife Park celebrated the birth of baby Roloway Monkey Kumasi and in 2021, baby Dassioko was also welcomed to the family.

According to the international Zoo Database, the birth of the baby Kumasi was the first of its kind in the UK and is a major triumph for the European breeding programme – only 3 babies were born in zoos worldwide in 2020.

This is a major achievement for the YWP primates team who worked hard to introduce Kayla and Rafiki to each other and acclimatise them at the Park in Doncaster in February when they arrived from France and Germany respectively. These Roloway monkeys are the only the pair in the country.

BREEDING

In 2020 Yorkshire Wildlife Park celebrated the first ever birth of a baby Roloway monkey in the UK. Baby Kumasi was one of only the Roloway babies born within the breeding programme anywhere around the globe that year. In 2021 baby Dassioko was also welcomed to the family and continues to thrive alongside his protective older brother.

IN THE WILD

Only around 200 Roloways Monkeys remain in the wild. Their protection is incredibly important to ensure the preservation of such a rare species facing imminent extinction.