Zanzibar Red Colobus running across a road (Piliocolobus kirkii), Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park, Zanzibar, Tanzania. May 2017. Photo Credit: Anup Shah

Animals Zanzibar15. April 2021

These Road Bumps Are Saving Endangered Monkeys

Speedbumps were added on the main road of a national park in Zanzibar to reduce the speed of cars and save the lives of an endangered primate species: the colobuses.

“The recent data show that speed bumps have made a huge difference for the safety of the colobus,” says Harry Olgun, a doctoral student at Bangor University in the U.K. and lead author of the study. The rate of collisions was cut in half since scientists from Bangor University, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Zanzibar National Parks installed four speedbumps.

There are less than 6,000 mature red colobuses – or Piliocolobus kirkii – in the wild, primarily on Unguja, the largest island in the Zanzibar archipelago. Most of them live in Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park. Conservation efforts need to continue to protect endangered species, and “understanding the impact of vehicles on wildlife within a park, and implementing practical solutions is exactly what we as conservationists should be doing,” explains co-author Tim Davenport, director of species conservation and science in Africa at the WCS.

Source:
Live Science

:::::: Related Articles

Back to top button