#Siafu - #SafariAnts - pose a potentially painful problem for primates, human and non-human. This female Zanzibar Red Colobus Piliocolobus kirkii is happily scoffing leaves when she suddenly notices a painful nip and tries repeatedly to dislodge an ant from her finger. She bounds away as a column of safari ants crosses the path nearby, and then we see two barefoot boys cautiously approach wondering how best to get past the ants.
What is fascinating about this sequence, No.71 to #BrightenYourDay in #Covid19 #lockdown, is the fact that the monkeys are feeding without fear around the people. This is in Jozani Forest National Park on the island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania, where the local troop of this spectacular endemic species of monkey is completely at ease around tourists and locals alike.
The ants in question, also known as Driver Ants or Army Ants, Dorylus sp., are notorious for their soldiers with massive mandibles - you can clearly see them lining the route of the stream of worker ants in the video, the whole colony operating like a predatory super-organism that actually helps farmers by eating crop pests from insects to rodents - very impressive to see in action if you can watch them without getting ants in your pants!
Find out more about the beautiful #Zanzibar #RedColobus #monkeys here:
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