CreatureData

Olive colobus

Procolobus verus (van Beneden, 1838)

VUVulnerableprimates

The olive colobus (Procolobus verus) is a species in the family Cercopithecidae, order Primates. Recorded adults weigh 3.98 kg to 4.64 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Olive colobus (Procolobus verus)
Photo: Jean Charles Chenu · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the olive colobus

Weight
3.98 kg – 4.64 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
168 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1.01src for Young per litter or clutch
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the olive colobus live?

Not recorded

What is the olive colobus?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The olive colobus monkey (Procolobus verus), also known as the green colobus or Van Beneden's colobus, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is the only species in the genus Procolobus, which formerly also included other species that are now grouped in a separate genus Piliocolobus. Its English name refers to its dull olive upperparts. It is the smallest example of all colobine monkeys and is rarely observed in its natural habitat because of its cryptic coloration and secretive nature. It is found in the rain forests of West Africa, ranging from southern Sierra Leone to Nigeria. The IUCN Red List classifies the olive colobus as vulnerable (previously near threatened), with the cause of its decline attributed to habitat loss and hunting. Though much of the land within the range of the olive colobus has been affected by human activities, it retains its ability to thrive in small degraded forest fragments.

From the Wikipedia article “Olive colobus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olive_colobus&oldid=1356923453), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the olive colobus endangered?

The olive colobus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the olive colobus classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPrimates
  5. familyCercopithecidae
  6. genusProcolobus
  7. SpeciesProcolobus verus (van Beneden, 1838)

Synonyms Colobus chrysurus, Colobus cristatus, Colobus verus, Semnopithecus olivaceus

Other names and names in other languages (28)
  • Green colobusEnglish
  • Van Beneden's colobusEnglish
  • Van Beneden's colobusEnglish
  • Van Beneden’s colobusEnglish
  • كولبس أخضرArabic
  • كولبس زيتونيArabic
  • gueréza zelenáCzech
  • grøn colobusabeDanish
  • Grüner StummelaffeGerman
  • Colobo OlivaSpanish
  • Colobo verdeSpanish
  • oliiviruostegueretsaFinnish
  • Colobe vertFrench
  • Colobe à huppeFrench
  • Colobe de van BenedenFrench
  • Colobe vert oliveFrench
  • Colobe vraiFrench
  • オリーブコロブスJapanese
  • GrønnkolobusNorwegian Bokmål
  • OlivenkolobusNorwegian Bokmål
  • Groene FranjeaapDutch
  • Gereza oliwkowaPolish
  • pragereza oliwkowaPolish
  • ProcolobusPortuguese
  • Colobo-VerdePortuguese
  • Зелёная гверецаRussian
  • பசும் கொலோபசுTamil
  • 綠疣猴Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the olive colobus

Other species in the same family Cercopithecidae.

VU, Vulnerable
Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx)

Mandrill

Mandrillus sphinx

Cercopithecidae

CompareOlive colobus vs Rhesus macaqueOlive colobus vs Barbary macaqueOlive colobus vs MandrillOlive colobus vs Proboscis monkey

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the olive colobus?

An adult olive colobus weighs 3.98 kg – 4.64 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the olive colobus endangered?

The olive colobus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long is the olive colobus pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 168 days.

What kind of animal is the olive colobus?

The olive colobus (Procolobus verus) belongs to the family Cercopithecidae in the order Primates.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Olive colobus (Procolobus verus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-colobus

MLA

“Olive colobus (Procolobus verus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-colobus.

BibTeX
@misc{olive_colobus_2026,
  title = {Olive colobus (Procolobus verus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/olive-colobus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}