Vervet Monkeys - The Least Concern Primates

Chlorocebus sabaeus

Range Map

Scientific Name: Chlorocebus sabaeus

The currently described range of this species is from Senegal to West of the Volta River system in Ghana (Gippoliti & Dell'Omo, 2003). It has been introduced to St. Kitts, Barbados and Nevis in the Carribean around 300 years ago, and also to Cape Verde (Harrison, 1983; Horrocks, 1986).

Having no competitors or natural predators (besides humans) have been very successful on the Carribean islands. They soon became such a nuisance to farmers that there was a bounty placed on their heads. This was found to be innefective in controlling their numbers. This led to a live trapping system being set in place by the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute in 1979 in an attempt to control the population and reduce crop raiding (Horrocks, 1986; Boulton et al., 1996). The animals, mostly adult females and juveniles, are trapped and transported to the U.S. where they supply the biomedical industry. They are amongst the most used primates in biomedical research. They are used in research on HIV, SIV, AIDS and were central in the development of the polio vaccine. The majority of research papers published about this species are biomedical (Hahn et al., 2000).

Where they occur naturally, these monkeys have been found to be extirpated from their former range in Cote d'Ivoire (Gondelé Bi et al., 2009).