Overview
- An international team published a peer‑reviewed description in July 2026 naming the monkey Colobus congoensis and recording the local name Likweli.
- The designation rests on multiple lines of evidence gathered since 2018, including 114 field sightings, photographs, sound recordings and DNA and anatomical analyses.
- Researchers report the monkey lives in roughly 1,700 square kilometres of the central Congo Basin and is rare within that area.
- Colobus congoensis has glossy black fur, a bright orange‑to‑pink facial mask, unusually deep resonant calls, weighs about seven kilograms and is genetically distinct from its nearest known relative after a split about four to five million years ago.
- The authors say hunting and habitat loss threaten the species and have proposed that the IUCN list Colobus congoensis as threatened, a step needed to enable targeted protection and conservation action.