The species is classified as Critically Endangered due to habitat loss and their continued hunting because of the bushmeat trade.
The Roloway monkey is mainly an arboreal species, for the most part inhabiting forests in Ghana and some reserves in South-Eastern Côte-D'Ivoire.
More specifically, studies have shown that C. roloway is primarily concentrated in the Tanoé forest of the Côte-D'Ivoire because of their heavy threats to extinction and lack of habitat.
It is still difficult to gather data on wild subjects, as they have low populations in a vast forest, but they are a unique and vanishing species.
Roloway Monkeys have a relatively flat skull, and unlike many other primates, they do not have an elongated chin cavity, also referred to as a rostrum.
This patch allows the monkeys to store food such as fruits, nuts and seeds, which are the majority of their diet as they are omnivorous primates.
Primary forests are ones that have not been majorly affected, and they are quite old and full of unique attributions that can allow for populations of animals and plants to be more stable in the long term.
Small areas of these forests and habitats are used to inhabit the monkeys, and the group sizes of the species tend to be minuscule.
The monkeys' instinct to flee combined with the areas they choose to live in, make it very hard to study them or gather any new information on the changes in their population size or behavior.
Like many omnivores, the Roloway monkey also consumes mature fruit pulp, arthropods, oil-rich seeds, and young leaves.
During the wet season, when more insects are out and available for hunting, the Roloway will consume less fruit and seed, and will act more on its insectivorous urges.
Typical predators of the Roloway monkey include the leopard, large prey birds, chimpanzees, and other larger species.
[10] Roloway monkeys typically are diurnally active only, and spend the night sleeping high in the canopy, similar to other primates and mammals.
When there are reduced populations of the Roloway, the habits of staying in the same group can impose restrictions on the ability for the species to recuperate.
The Roloway monkey is no exception, as it has many different types of calls and sounds it will make based on the scenario.
The monkey is known to croak, chuckle, shriek, and will even make distinct yelling sounds when it senses a threat, and wants to warn the others in the group.
Many individuals will perform physical communications, including facial expressions, posture, hand signals, and even actions.
[12] Within their groups, there are levels of hierarchy, and distinct communication, both physical and verbal, is needed in order to maintain a peaceful structure, and to reduce tension and fighting.
Female Roloways normally give birth to a single infant or, rarely, twins, after a gestation period of around six months.
[7] The mother will suckle the infant for about six months, and then it will feed it a more adult-like diet, including fruit, nuts, and seeds.
[12] Other sources have suspected that the Roloway is in fact the top most threatened primate in the entire continent of Africa.
Ghana, the country that the Roloway have been most frequently spotted, has gone through a drastic loss of close to 90% of its forest land throughout the past 100 years.
[16] In fact, it is estimated that there are only around 2,000 living individuals, and their population will continue to decline because of how highly hunters value their quality meat.
[7] Not only are their predators such as the chimpanzee, the leopard, and the crowned eagle very dangerous, but the Roloway Monkey is also largely affected by humans.
[13] Recently, however, it has been found that there are so few Roloway left, that even hunters do not want to seek out the monkeys, as they might not make as much profit because of the time it would take to find one.
There are some small foundations started in areas surrounding the Tanoe forest and other locations the monkeys have been found, but without government help, the organizations probably will not go far.
Currently, efforts need to be in place to find a new location that the primates could thrive in after breeding programs have allowed for a larger captive population that have the potential to be released[7] In 2020, however, the United Kingdom had a large celebration for the first ever birth of a Roloway monkey in that country.