In 1994, western red colobus monkeys infected many chimpanzees with Ebola virus after being hunted and consumed by the chimps.

[3] According to Groves (2005) the Western red colobus has three subspecies, including the nominate:[1] P. b. waldronae is critically endangered, possibly even extinct.

It has red or chestnut-brown head and limbs and black, slatey-grey or dark brown upper parts.

Compared to monkeys in the genus Colobus, the nostrils are V-shaped, the digits are long and the big toe short.

[2] The red colobus lives in colonies of between twelve and eighty members.