Lophocebus albigena
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The grey-cheeked mangabey (Lophocebus albigena), also known as the white-cheeked mangabey, is an Old World monkey found in the forests of Central Africa. It ranges from Cameroon down to Gabon. The grey-cheeked mangabey is a dark monkey, looking in shape overall like a small, hairy baboon. Its thick brown fur is almost black in its forest home, with a slightly rufus/golden mane around the neck. The sexes are similar, with the males slightly larger than the females.
The grey-cheeked mangabey lives in a variety of habitats with the forests of Central Africa, it is generally thought to live in either swamp or primary forests, in some areas it has also been found in secondary forest as well. Some authors in the past have considered the species to be restricted to the forest canopy, however more recently habituated troops have been observed on the forest floor collecting food. It feeds primarily on fruit, particularly figs, taking other fruits seasonally, as well as shoots, flowers and insects.
The grey-cheeked mangabey lives in groups of between 5 and 30 individuals. The groups have either a single male or (more usually) several, without a single dominant male. Young males leave the troop once they are adult and join other troops, whereas the females stay in the troop of their birth. If troops become too large they may split. Confrontations between troops are rare, as this mangabey will usually avoid other troops. Their territories cover several square miles of forest, and can both overlap with other troops and shift over time.
Three subspecies of this mangabey were previously recognized. In 2007, Colin Groves elevated them all to species level, splitting one (johnstoni) into two species. Wikipedia →
Recording0:11
Gabon · 2022
© BurBenj · XC1133128 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:05
Uganda · 2025
© Bernard BOUSQUET · XC1063099 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:18
Gabon · 2022
© bureaubenjamin · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semuliki National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Nyungwe National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 4 | Odzala-Kokoua National Park | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fota Wildlife Park | 🇮🇪 Ireland |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey sighting in Kibale National Park on a given day, based on 70 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 6th most-seen of the 13 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 90% of wildlife watchers report a grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey in Kibale National Park on a given day, against about 40% in June, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey sightings, Kibale National Park ranks 2nd at about 70%. The best odds are in Semuliki National Park (Uganda, about 80%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Cercopithecidae
The closest relatives of the grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey that you can see in Kibale National Park (family Cercopithecidae, Old World Monkeys) are Olive Baboon (about 80%), Red-tailed Monkey (about 80%) and Ashy Red Colobus (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the grey-mantled grey-cheeked mangabey is recorded against all the mammals logged in Kibale National Park (70 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
