Mt. Uaraguess guereza, aka Percival’s black-and-white colobus (C. g. percivali), is found the highest peak in the Matthews Range of central Kenya. © Peter Fundi.

Matthew's Ranges forest in Samburu Kenya is a biodiversity hotspot (de Jong and Butynski, 2010) and is greatly facing immense pressure from the marginalized pastoralist Samburu community (Mwenja 2008). This landscape supports numerous critically endangered flora and fauna (IUCN 2016; 2017; 2022). It is home to the endangered Mt. Uarges Colobus guereza Percival monkey species (IUCN 2016, 2017), which is a forest-dependent monkey feeding on leaves and fruits (Oates 1994; Fashing 2001b).The community is cutting down trees for forage which not only jeopardizes biological diversity but also climate systems. Samburu County has been greatly affected by frequent droughts resulting in the death of many livestock. The community has resorted to taking their livestock to Matthew's Ranges forest for pasture resulting in overgrazing and habitat degradation. It has also exposed poaching to the already endangered Mt Uarges Colobus guereza Percival for their fur used as an ornament during ceremonies (Mwenja 2008, de Jong and Butynski, 2010 ). This impedes population recovery of this species as well as other species which overlap in range.

This project will be crucial in determining population estimates, group composition, structure, habitat preference, and activity patterns of the endangered Percival monkeys. Secondly, this project will determine human perceptions to understand the community relationship with the Percival and its habitat to inform in education and awareness creation. Lastly, this project will create awareness among the community members to promote conservation and co-existance in shared spaces. This will promote long term conservation of not only the endangered Mt Uarges Guereza but also other species overlapping in range.