L'Hoest's guenon  (Cercopithecus lhoesti)

L'Hoest's guenon has been assessed as Lower Risk / Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List (1), but it is among the world's least known primates and so populations could be unknowingly facing great threats (6). Habitat loss, due to agriculture, mining and wood extraction (1), combined with hunting for bushmeat, is probably reducing population numbers in many areas (2). Even populations in protected areas are not safe from these threats; large-scale logging is known to have threatened this species in Kibale Forest, Uganda (2), and within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, poaching, logging and the extraction of gold and charcoal occurs (7).

The Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) lists L'hoest's guenon on Appendix II, meaning that any international trade in this species should be carefully monitored (3), but this does little to control hunting for bushmeat. While this species does occur in some protected areas, such as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (7), these populations still face threats, as mentioned above. While its large distribution and largely inaccessible forest habitat protects the species short-term survival, the long-term prospects for the handsome L'Hoest's guenon are not so secure (2).