Throughout the Nineteenth Century, Western explorers and collectors discovered many new animal species from Africa and Asia. These men were frequently missionaries, doctors, colonial administrators, soldiers, etc. rather than professional zoologists. In 1890, one of the last monkeys discovered by these “gentlemen scholars” was the Wolf’s Monkey, one of many Guenons living in sub-Saharan African forests.

Notes from the Leyden Museum in 1890 reported:

CERCOPITHECUS WOLFI

by A.B. MEYER

In the Zoological Garden of Dresden since the year 1887 there has been a living specimen of a Cercopithecus brought hither from Central West Africa by Dr Ludwig Wolf. This specimen so obviously represents an undescribed species of monkey that I need not hesitate any longer in describing it briefly, though this can be done but imperfectly during its lifetime. The following remarks therefore must be looked upon as preliminary only to be completed after the animal’s death. This new species belongs to the Mona group which was divided by Prof Schlegel.

There are two Wolf’s Monkeys in the Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest. They spend a lot of time grooming, fairly close to the plexiglass window, and are easily photographed. The older (male?) has a distinctive, half-closed right eye. The younger (a female) seems to do most of the grooming.

• Bronx Zoo,
• monkeys,
• primates,
• zoos