Golden monkey

Golden monkey[1]
Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Cercopithecidae
Genus:	Cercopithecus
Species:	C. mitis
Subspecies:	C. m. kandti
Trinomial name
Cercopithecus mitis kandti Matschie, 1905

The golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti) is a subspecies of the blue monkey.^[2] It is an Old World monkey found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga and Kahuzi-Biéga, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is restricted to highland forest, especially near bamboo.

This species is similar to the blue monkey overall, but the golden monkey has a golden-orange patch on the upper flanks and back.

Not much is known about the golden monkey's behaviour. It lives in social groups of up to 30 individuals. Its diet consists mainly of bamboo, leaves and fruit, though it is also thought to eat insects.

Due to the gradual destruction of their habitat and recent wars in their limited habitat, the golden monkey is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.^[2]