{"id":2191970,"date":"2026-07-25T18:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2191970"},"modified":"2026-07-26T05:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T04:27:11","slug":"new-colobus-monkey-likweli-confirmed-in-drc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/new-colobus-monkey-likweli-confirmed-in-drc\/","title":{"rendered":"New colobus monkey, \u2018Likweli\u2019, confirmed in DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2008, wildlife researchers surveying a massive, underexplored forested region in the Democratic Republic of Congo photographed a black monkey. That region eventually became\u00a0Lomami National Park. And now, nearly 20 years later, the team has\u00a0confirmed in a study\u00a0that the black primate is a new-to-science species of colobus monkey.<\/p>\n

The monkey isn\u2019t well known by local communities, but those who have encountered it call it\u00a0likweli<\/em>, said John Hart, study lead author and scientific director at the Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, which spearheaded the creation of Lomami. The researchers have given the monkey the scientific name\u00a0Colobus congoensis<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Both male and female likweli are almost entirely black. What makes the species easy to distinguish from other colobus monkeys is a prominent patch of pinkish to orange-cream bare skin surrounding the mouth, Hart told Mongabay in a video call.<\/p>\n

When the likweli was first photographed in 2008, it was one of several monkeys the researchers couldn\u2019t identify. \u201cThey are not in our field guides,\u201d Terese Hart, the Lukuru foundation director, wrote in a\u00a0blog post in 2008.<\/p>\n

Another of those monkeys, locally named\u00a0lesula<\/em>, also turned out to be new to science and was\u00a0scientifically described as\u00a0Cercopithecus lomamiensis<\/em>\u00a0in 2012.<\/p>\n

With the focus on the lesula and conservation work in the area, the likweli went on the back burner, John said. It was only 10 years later, in 2018, that local field researcher Jean Pierre Kapale photographed likweli several times during surveillance patrols and surveys.<\/p>\n

Kapale insisted the monkey was new to science, John added. \u201cAnd that is a key factor. These people who make these discoveries know what they don\u2019t know and they\u2019re interested by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers sent the photos to Jonathan Kingdon, a naturalist from Tanzania who wrote a field guide on African land mammals. \u201cAnd he right away said, \u2018Oh, you\u2019ve got something big here,\u2019\u201d John said.<\/p>\n

To confirm the monkey was indeed new to science, the researchers examined dead individuals confiscated from hunters. Analysis of the monkeys\u2019 bodies and genetics showed they\u2019re most closely related to the black colobus monkey (Colobus satanas<\/em>), found more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) away.<\/p>\n

They also conducted fieldwork in and around Lomami to record the monkey\u2019s calls and understand where and how it lives. The fieldwork showed likweli are rare in the limited area where they\u2019re found in the DRC, likely because they have very specific ecological requirements, although those are still unclear, John said. He added there may be fewer than 1,000 likweli individuals in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is naturally uncommon, it\u2019s not that it\u2019s been poached down to nothing,\u201d he added. While hunters do kill it for food, it\u2019s not a target by itself, he said.<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s rare, the researchers propose classifying likweli as endangered on the IUCN Red List. While most of the known likweli population is in the park, that\u2019s no guarantee of protection, Terese said. Threats like hunting continue to be a pressure, she added.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Likweli. Image courtesy of Jean Pierre Kapale.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article<\/a> by Shreya Dasgupta was first published by Mongabay on 15 July 2026. Lead Image: A likweli, courtesy of Bernard Bonanga.<\/em><\/p>\n

What You Can Do<\/h2>\n

Help to save wildlife by donating as little as $5 \u2013 It only takes a minute.<\/p>\n

\n