GOLDEN MONKEY TRACKING

In the absence of gorillas, you will be able to test your primatologist talents by scouring the bamboo forests in search of the golden monkey(Cercopithecus kandti), a rare species, endemic to the Virunga and classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature following its decimation during the Rwandan genocide and the political instability, still in progress, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (poaching for its meat and skin, destruction of its habitat...). This pretty monkey is characterized by its body, cheeks and tail of a golden orange that contrasts with the black of its skull, limbs and the tip of its tail. The population of golden monkeys in the Mgahinga National Park is estimated at three to four thousand individuals. Because their territorial habits are more marked than those of gorillas, the probability of encountering them is very high. Living in groups of thirty individuals on average (at low and medium altitudes, colonies of sixty to one hundred monkeys have already been seen; a contrario, less than ten individuals generally make up the communities frequenting the higher slopes), communicating by vocalizations and feeding mainly on bamboo (shoots, leaves....), or even an insect larva from time to time, the golden monkey can be observed during a tracking organized by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (count four to five hours of walking), in the morning or early afternoon, from Ntebeko.