Despite its name, the blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) is not noticeably blue; it has little hair on its face that sometimes gives a blue appearance, but it never has the vivid blue appearance of like a mandrill.

The monkey’s coat is mainly olive or grey apart from the face, which is dark with a pale or yellowish patch on the forehead. Its crown, from which the species derives its common name, is blackish blue, including the arms, feet, and front legs. The mantle, eyebrows, cheeks and chest are whitish grey with falling fur, like a kingly dressing.

Its typical body size is about 50-65 cm, excluding the tail, which is almost as long as the body. Females weigh a little less than males.

The blue monkey is also known as the diademed guenon, silver monkey, Sykes’s monkey, gentle monkey and white-throated guenon (the last regarded as a separate species by some authorities)

Behaviour

Blue monkeys sometimes come together with red-tailed monkeys for extra protection, and the two species occasionally interact and groom each other.

Their social groups consist mainly of females because the males leave once they are mature and form their own troops or depose other dominant males to take over their leadership. Females in the group collectively take care of the young.

Where to see the blue monkey in Uganda

The blue monkey is a primate native to Central and East Africa, and it is common in most Ugandan forests, where numerous troops frequently associate with other similar primate species.

There are over 20 blue monkey races and three native to Uganda and are found in every other forest in the country and all national parks except Murchison Falls and Lake Mburo National Parks.