African Blue Monkeys

Blue monkeys are not actually blue but are more gray-colored or olive. The blue in their name might come from the slight blue hue in the hair of their faces. The female blue monkey weighs about 9 pounds while the males weigh up to 18 pounds.

Blue monkeys are 20-26 inches long, and their tails are often just as long as their bodies and can live to 20 years or more in zoos.

Blue monkeys stay most of their time in tree branches and rarely come down. They are found in ever green forest and bamboo forests of Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C), Angola and Zambia.

Blue monkey feeds on fruits and leaves but in scarcity of food will also eat slow-moving invertebrates.

In zoos, they eat fruits, vegetables, and a special type of primate biscuit. The gestation lasts five months and results in a single baby that is weaned at about six months. They reach maturity at about 3 years old and generally reproduce every three years.

Blue monkeys are not endangered but the exhaustion of tropical rainforest has greatly threatened their existence. These primates move in groups of 10 to 40. These groups often form “alliances” with other species of monkeys, probably for added protection against predators like leopards, snakes, and birds of prey.

Like Gorillas. Blue monkeys are primate species of wildlife. The tail of these species is pretty long. The size of the tail is almost equivalent to the total body length. Blue monkeys have short, brown fur. They attain sexual maturity at age three.