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Rediscovery of the Kisangani Red Colobus Distribution, Taxonomic and Phenotypic Variation, Ecology, Threats, and Recommendations for Its Conservation

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Rediscovery of the Kisangani Red Colobus Distribution, Taxonomic and Phenotypic Variation, Ecology, Threats, and Recommendations for Its Conservation Rediscovery of the Kisangani Red Colobus Distribution, taxonomic and phenotypic variation, ecology, threats, and recommendations for its conservation A Report to Global Wildlife Conservation and the Frankfurt Zoological TL2 Project. Project duration : June – December 2019 Field work: July – October 2019 Field data collection, data preparation and analysis: Desiré Kaisala1 and Paul Falay2 1 Licencié, University of Kisangani, Faculty of Science, Department of Ecology and Wildlife Management 2 Licencié, University of Kisangani, Faculty of Natural Resource Management, Department of Forest Management Additional field inputs: Claude Mande University of Kisangani, Faculty of Science, Department of Ecology and Wildlife Management Training, supervision, analysis, report preparation: John A Hart FZS/ TL2 Project Technical Advisor Scientific Director Inventory and Monitoring Unit Kinshasa, DRC. Project budget Global Wildlife Conservation $ 5000 John and Terese Hart: $850 Logistic support, training and staff time provided by FZS TL2 Project Report date: February 2020 2019 Kisangani Red Colobus Rediscovered Frankfurt Zoological Society TL2 Project Two types of red coloBus were documented in tHe survey of the Kisangani Red ColoBus range: Piliocobus langi, a distinctive , phenotypically staBle species, strongly demarcated red sepia and slate occurs between tHe Maiko and Lindi Rivers (top three photos). A larger and variaBly colored form, assigned to the hyBrid taxon Piliocolobus ellioti , occurs Between tHe Lindi and Aruwimi Rivers. Of two seen, one sHowed no evidence of a Bicolored coat pattern. AnotHer Had blurred demarcations (lower two photos). THese two animals were from tHe same group. Photos By Desiré Kaisala and Paul Falay, Frankfurt Zoological 24 August 2019, Piliocolobus langi, female. Society, TL2 Project, KinsHasa, DRC. N 0.53232, E 27.12830, credit D.Kaisala 16 SeptemBer 2019, Piliocolobus langi, sex unknown. 17 SeptemBer 2019, Piliocolobus langi, sex unknown. N 0.29336 E 27.63313, credit D. Kaisala N 0.32976 E 27.65615, credit D. Kaisala Sex unknown 16 August, 2019, Piliocolobus ellioti left male, rigHt, female N 1.3361 E 27.06314, credit P. Falay Male (left) Female (rigHt) 2 Summary of principal findings At the completion of field work in October 2019, we can report that the Kisangani Red Colobus including populations of Piliocolobus langi as well as of polychromatic, hybrid forms, Piliocolobus ellioti, still occurs in a number of areas of its range, estimated at 69,000 km2. Populations, however, are reduced and in some cases locally extirpated. Illegal hunting threatens Kisangani Red Colobus and most other fauna in all areas we surveyed. Episodes of mass killing of red colobus, primarily by DRC military occurred in a number of areas over the past 20 years. Habitat loss and degradation from expanding agricultural conversion and logging affect populations around Kisangani, including much of the western third of the range. The widespread occurrence of artisanal mining for diamonds and gold over the eastern half of the range provides a base for hunters and demands for bushmeat in some areas, including the Maiko National Park. Population reductions associated with apparently widespread periodic epidemic die offs are an additional threat to these monkeys. The conservation of the Kisangani Red Colobus requires an immediate end to all illegal killing. The prognosis is not entirely negative: Large blocks of suitable habitat occupied by red colobus remain intact in key areas of the species’ range, in particular in the east. There are low rates of immigration and settlement in this region. Forest conversion by shifting agriculture is localized around settlements. The Kisangani Red Colobus appears capable of recovery from major mortality following epidemics, so may be able to recover from reductions by hunting, if the hunting can be stopped. Kisangani Red Colobus exhibit marked differences in phenotype in the range surveyed: A phenotypically stable, strongly marked, bicolored form that corresponds to the type description of P. langi, occurs from the Maiko River in the south, through the basin of the Tshopo to the Lindi River in the north. Between the Lindi and Aruwimi Rivers, in the east of the range, red colobus, have highly variable coat coloration, some bearing little resemblance to P. langi, and are assigned to the taxon P. ellioti. Red colobus in the west of the Lindi-Aruwimi interfluve have been assigned to P. langi (Colyn 1991). Verification of the phenotypic identity of the western populations in the Yambuya area where they are known to still occur, and establishing their relation with the polychromatic populations that occur in the west of the intefluve are a high priority. Kisangani Red Colobus still occur in the northern Maiko National Park, at the southeastern limits of the range. Red colobus were the most abundant of all primates observed during the first exploration of the park (Hart & Sikubwabo 1994). However, this sector of the park has not been patrolled for over two decades. All remaining fauna there are at risk by illegal hunting. Kisangani Red Colobus are likely extirpated in the Yangambi Biopsphere Reserve, in the west of the range. There are no other established protected areas within the Kisangani Red Colobus range. Immediate priorities that can be undertaken under current conditions in the range include: • Verify phenotype and taxonomy of the western-most remaining populations at Yambuya. • Survey remaining important populations of red colobus in the Tshopo basin • Lobby for and assist execution of activities to control illegal hunting by military stationed in the range. • Evaluate possibilities to initiate community based projects to monitor and protect red colobus and other vulnerable fauna in the Yambuya, Opienge and Babuse areas where potential support for this was identified during the survey. Our field work leads us to believe that it is possible to control illegal killing of red colobus and other endangered fauna at a local level by dedicated projects. The range of the Kisangani Red Colobus supports 15 species of diurnal anthropoid primates (monkeys and apes), one of the most diverse primate communities in Africa. Conservation of the Kisangani Red Colobus could benefit the conservation of a number of these species as well. 3 Introduction and Context The Kisangani Red Colobus is the vernacular name given to red colobus occupying the large region extending from the Congo River’s big bend at Kisangani, east, through the Aruwimi, Tshopo, Lindi and Maiko basins. The colobus occupying this area include Piliocolobus langi, a distinctive species, endemic to DRC, as well as polychromatic, apparently hybrid forms (Colyn 1991, 1993). P. langi was first described in 1925 (Allen 1925) and named in honor of Herbert Lang, mammalogist for the American Museum of Natural History’s eastern Congo expedition, from 1909 to 1915 who collected the type specimens. Since its discovery, P. langi has had a varied taxonomy. Colyn (1991) named it as a subspecies of Colobus badius). Based on mitochondrial DNA analysis, Ting (2008) suggested that, P. langi should be considered a subspecies of P. rufomitratus, along with (among others) the forms tholloni, oustaleti, parmentieri, foai and ellioti (which he treated as the senior synonym for semlikiensis, but which has also been used to describe presumed hybrid forms). This classification is largely accepted by Struhsaker and Grubb (2013). Groves (2007) suggested that P. langi be raised to status of a full species a position that was also taken by the African primate red list workshop in Rome 2016, and by the IUCN Red Colobus Action Plan (in preparation). Hart and Sikubwabo (1994) reported that red colobus, including P. langi, were the most frequently encountered of all monkeys on surveys of the Maiko National Park from 1989 to 1992. Colyn 1991 reported P. langi as common, and found freshly killed animals frequently in the bushmeat market in Kisangani. Numbers of red colobus appearing in the Kisangani market declined sharply over the last decade of the 20th century. By the early 2000s red colobus were no longer reported (van Vliet et al. 2012). Struhsaker (2010) in his treatment of the African Red Colobus described P. langi as insufficiently known. The last recorded observations of Kisangani Red Colobus were in 2011 and 2012 when field teams searching for okapi, documented single dead animals in two villages between 150 and 200 km east of Kisangani on the National Route 4 (Mpaka and Paluku 2012). There has never been a project dedicated to study and conservation of this species. The status and even the continued existence of one of DR Congo’s most strikingly marked endemic monkeys were uncertain. In May 2019, we initiated a project to conduct a rapid assessment across the range of the Kisangani Red Colobus with the goal to determine the species’ occurrence and to evaluate its conservation needs. Range The range of Kisangani Red Colobus, on the right bank of the Congo River comprises three major interfluve regions: the Maiko-Tshopo, the Tshopo-Lindi and the Lindi-Aruwimi. The range has been described as extending from the confluence of the Congo and the Aruwimi Rivers, east, bounded by the Aruwimi River in the north and the Maiko River to the south, to poorly defined limits in the upper Tshopo and Maiko basins (Colyn 1991). This range area is estimated to be about 69,000 km2 . FIGURE 1 maps the range of the Kisangani Red Colobus in relation to other DRC red colobus taxa. FIGURE 3 locates the river basins mentioned above. The range of the Kisangani Red Colobus rises gradually in elevation from approximately 400m asl in the west, at the confluence of the Aruwimi and Congo Rivers, to about 800m asl at its eastern limit in the 4 upper water sheds of the MaIko Rivers. The area has generally low, rolling topographic profile. However ranges of isolated massifs of hills occur sporadically over the eastern two thirds of the range, reaching 150m to 200m above the surrounding peneplain.
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