Grivet

The grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) is an Old World monkey recognisable by long white tufts of hair along the sides of its face and a white line above the eyes. As defined here it is restricted to Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea, and it lives mostly in savanna woodland close to water. Adults weigh from about 3.4 to 8 kilograms, females being smaller. Groups of five to more than seventy are active in the morning and early evening, feeding on fruit, vegetables and sometimes small animals, and sleeping in trees at night. Females bear one young after a gestation of two to three months. The monkey is common and rated Least Concern, though bushmeat hunting and loss of forest affect it. Ancient Egyptians kept grivets as pets, and since the 1960s their kidneys have been used in vaccine production.