Native to Africa, colobus monkeys are herbivorous and eat leaves, fruit, flowers and twigs. Its complex digestive system allows it to consume more mature foliage that can be toxic to other animals, while its lightweight bone structure and elongated limbs allow it to move seamlessly through its forest home.

Troops consist of between five and ten animals - a dominant male, several females as well as young - and each group will define and defend what they consider to be their territory. Males use croaking sounds, which resonate through the forest, to make others aware of their presence while the responsibility of rearing young is shared within the troop. Females tend to suckle infants for over a year and give birth an average of every 20 months.

Although the black-and-white colobus is classified as Least Concern, it faces threats from hunting, particularly for its distinctive coat, and from habitat loss due to agriculture and timber production.

Newborn colobus monkeys are initially covered in white fur, which gradually changes to the adult black and white colouration around three months of age. Colobus monkeys living in high-altitude regions of Kenya are sometimes born with albino fur, though the reasons for this phenomenon are not fully understood.

The park’s colobus monkeys are of a race known as kikuyuensis, which originate in the cool mountain forests of Kenya. They eat a diet with a mix of monkey chow (specialised food for monkeys), fruits, vegetables and willow branches. Predominantly a leaf-eating primate, the colobus habitat was moved to its current location in 2011.