Zanzibar Red Colobus

The Zanzibar red colobus (Procolobus kirkii) is a species of red colobus monkey endemic to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania. It is also known as Kirk's red colobus after Sir John Kirk (1832-1922), the British Resident of Zanzibar who first brought it to the attention of zoological science. It is now classified as an endangered species and in the mid-1990s was adopted as the flagship species for conservation in Zanzibar. The population trend is still decreasing and because this species is only located in the archipelago, conservationists are attempting to work with local government to devise a proper, effective strategy to protect the population and habitat. The species has been reclassified twice; it was previously in the genus Colobus, and more recently in the genus Procolobus.