Endangered primates frequently killed by cars while trying to cross the road in a national park in Zanzibar have been given a lifeline after speed bumps were put in to slow traffic. Zanzibar red colobuses (Piliocolobus kirkii) are small primates with a white coat, red back and black face. They are currently listed as an endangered species, with fewer than 6,000 mature individuals left in the wild. The species is endemic to Unguja, the largest island in the Zanzibar archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and most individuals now live within Jozani- Chwaka Bay National Park.
However, despite being a protected species within a safeguarded area, these small primates are still under threat from human activity. Red colobuses are frequently hit by cars as they try to cross the main road through the park. In response, local authorities added four speed bumps to the roads in the 1990s after pressure from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).