I came across my first Red Colobus monkey, an endangered species, in Abuko forest in The Gambia. It was skulking in the branches of a tree, keeping a low profile. Lovely colours.

The Red Colobus, Piliocolobus badius, is found in western, central and eastern Africa but has suffered through habitat loss, hunting and the fact that, for some reason, chimpanzees do not like them and will invariably attack and kill these beautiful creatures at every opportunity.

The Red Colobus tends to stand its ground when threatened, which can be effective against a lone or small number of attackers but not when large groups of marauding chimps are on the prowl. In some areas it is thought that chimpanzees have, through hunting, reduced the population of the Red Colobus by up to 90%.