The male #MonaMonkey is a strikingly good looking primate, with a sculpted hair style, white and auburn coat and a long tail, which is useful for balance as they clamber through the canopy. The species, Cercopithecus mona, is common across #WestAfrica from Ghana to the Nigeria-Cameroon border area and unlike many #primates seems able to thrive alongside humans.
This video, No. 94 in the #BrightenYourDay series to connect viewers to #nature during the #Covid19 lockdown, was taken in a remote part of Gashaka Gumti National Park​, #Nigeria. I was with a multi-disciplinary team (led by Prof Volker Sommer UCL Anthropology​) exploring the upper reaches of the Gam-Gam River, which cascades down the slopes of Gangirwal Mountain in a rocky riverbed sculpted by the stream.
On a steep slope in a rainforest, you can often find yourself on a level with the canopy of trees growing a bit downhill, which means that the light for filming primates is much better than beneath the tree because they are no longer silhouetted against the sky. The fact that this troop of #monkeys didn't flee suggests that they seldom see humans - an encouraging sign which suggests few poachers pass this way.
As we hiked further along the river bank, we passed a tree with a curious cloud of dancing daddy long-legs flies at the base of its trunk, a flock of yellow butterflies drinking from wet rocks and a fluttering flurry of swallowtails sipping minerals from scat on the riverbank. Any entomological advice on identifying the species would be most welcome!