Z is for ZOOLOGY

Zoology is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom. including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct.  The term is derived from Ancient Greek (zoon "animal") + (logos, "knowledge").  I am sorry but I don't have the alphabet on my computer to show the real Greek words correctly).

The history of zoology traces the study of the animal kingdom from ancient to modern times.  Although the concept of zoology as a single coherent field arose much later, the zoological sciences emerged from natural history reaching back to the works of Aristotle and Galen in the ancient Greco-Roman world.  This ancient work was further developed in the Middle Ages muslim physicians and scholars such as Albertus Magnus.  During the Renaissance and early modern period, zoological thought was revolutionised in Europe by a renewed interest in empiricism and the discovery of many novel organisms.  Prominent in this movement were Vesalius and William Harvey, who used experimentation and careful observation in physiology, and naturalists such as Carl Linnaeus and Buffon who began to classify the diversity of life and the fossil record, as well as the development and behaviour of organisms.  Microscopy revealed the previously unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory.  The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response ot the rise of mechanical philosophy, encouraged the growth of natural history (although it entrenched the arument from design).

Over the 18th and 19th centuries. zoology became an increasingly professional scientific discipline.  Explorer-naturalists such as Alexander von Humboldt investigated the interaction between organisms and their environment, and the ways this relationship depends on geography, laying the foundations for biogeography, ecology and ethology.  Naturalists began to reject esssentialism and consider the importance of extinction and the mutability of species.  Cell theory provided a new perspective on the fundamental basis if life.

These developments. as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.  In 1859, Darwin placed the theory of organic evolution on a new footing, by his discovery of a process by which organic evolution can occur, and provided observational evidence that it had done so.

Darwin gave a new direction to morphology and physiology, by uniting them in a common biological theory:  the theory of organic evolution.  The result was a reconstruction of the classification of animals upon a genealogical basis, fresh investigation of the development of animals, and early attempts to determine their genetic relationships.  The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation and the rise of the germ theory of disease, though the mechanism of inheritance remained a mystery.  In the early 20th century, the rediscovery of Mendel's work led to the rapid development of genetics by Thomas Hunt Morgan and his students, and by the 1930s the combination of population genetics and natural selection in the "neo-Darwinian synthesis"

There are many aspects of zoology: structural, physiological, evolutionary, systematics and ethology so far to much to add on here.  The various branches of zoology include comparative anatomy, animal physiology, behavioural ecology, ethology, invertebrata, vertebrata, comparative zoology and taxonomics such as mammalogy, herpetology, ornithology and entomology and there are also many other related fields.

It wasn't until I decided to do the A-Z of animals that I began to realise how interesting a science zoology is and I sit back now and think that had I known about this wonderful science perhaps I would have decided to go to university instead of wanting to get out into the big world of commerce as a shorthand typist.  What are the words of that song?  "If I had my life to live over!"  Nothing like being wise in hindsight is there.

Perhaps you thought I would make Z for Zebra but I felt that most people know quite a lot about that animal so I decided to expound a little on the science that has been involved in making available the scanty information I've been able to put on my blog.  Hope you enjoyed most of it, especially some of our special Aussie animals such as the platypus, wombat, wallaby, quokka etc.  Thank you for sharing it with me.

Y is for YAK (2)

Wild yaks are among the largest bovids and are second only to the gaur in shoulder height.  They are also the largest native animal in their range. Wild adults stand about 1.6-2.2 m (5.2-7.2 ft) tall at the shoulder and weight 305-1m000 kg (670-2,200lb).  The head and body length is 2.5-3.3m (8.2-11 ft), not counting the tail of 60-100 cm (24-39 in).  The females are about one-third the wright and are about 30% smaller in their linear dimensions when compared to bull wild yaks.  They are the only wild bovids of this size with extremely dense, long fur that hangs down lower then their belly,  Wild yaks are generally dark, blackish to brown, in pelage coloration.

Wild yaks usually form herds of between ten and thirty animas,  They are insulated by dense, close, matted under-hair as well as their shaggy outer hair. Yaks secrete a special sticky substance in their sweat which helps keep their under-hair matted and acts as extra insulation.  This secretion is used in traditional Nepalese medicine.  Many wild yaks are killed for food by hunters in China; they are now considered a vulnerable species.

The diet of wild yaks consists large of grasses and sedges and they also eat a smaller amount of herbs shrubs and mosses, and have been been reported to eat lichen.  Historically, the main natural predator of the wild yak has been the Tibetan wolf, but brown bears and now leopards have also been reported as predators in some areas, likely of young or inform wild yaks.

Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, reported on his journey from Kumburn in Amdo to Lhasa in 1950:

"Before long I was to see the vast herds of 'drongs' with my own eyes.  The sight of those beautiful and powerful beasts who from time immemorial have made their home on Tibet's high and barren plateaux never ceased to fascinate me.  And what a wonderful sight it is to see a great herd of them plunging head down in a wild gallop across the steppes.  The earth shakes under their heels and a vast cloud oof dust marks their passage.  At nights they will protect themselves from the cold by huddling up together, with the calves in the centre.   They will stand like this in a snow-storm, pressed so close together that the condensation from their breath rises into the air like a column of steam.  The nomads have occasionally tried to bring up young 'drongs' as domestic animals, but they have never entirely succeeded.  Somehow once they live together with human beings they seem to lose their astonishing strength and powers of endurance; and they are no use at all as pack animals, because their backs immediately get sore.  their immemorial relationship with humans has therefore remained that of game and hunter, for their flesh is very tasty".  - Thubten Norbu, Tibet is My Country.

Wild yaks are primarily found in northern Tibet and western Qinghai (north-west  China) with some populations extending into the southernmost parts of Xinjiang, and into Ladakh in India.  Small, isolated populations of wild yak are also found further afield, primarily in western Tibet and eastern Qinghai.  In historic times, wild yak were also found in Nepal and Bhutan, but they are now considered extinct in both countries. except as domesticated animals.

The primary habitat of wild yaks consists of treeless uplands between 3,000 and 5,500 m 9,800 and 18,000 ft), dominated by mountains and plateaus.  They are most commonly found in alpine meadows with a relatively thick carpet of grasses and sedges, rather than the more barren steppe country.  They are herd animals and herds can contain several hundred individuals, although many are much smaller.  The herds consist primarily of females and their young with a smaller number of adult males.  The remaining males are either solitary, or found in much smaller groups averaging around six individuals.  Although they can become aggressive when defending their young, or during the rut, wild yaks generally avoid humans, and may rapidly flee for great distances if approached.

Y is for YAK (1)

The YAK (Bos grunniens and Bos mutus) is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia.  Most yaks are domesticated animals, usually referred to as Bos grunniens.  There is also a small, vullnerable wild yak population, referred to as Bos mutus.  In the 1990s, a concerted effort was undertaken to help save the wild yak population.

The English word "yak" derives from the Tibetan 'g.yag' or 'gyag' - in Tibetan this refers only to the male of the species, the female being called a 'dri' or 'nak'.  In English, as in most other languages which have borrowed the word, 'yak' is usually used for both sexes.

Yaks belong to the genus Bos, and are therefore related to cattle.  Mitochondrial DNA analyses to determine the evolutionary history of yaks have been somewhat ambiguous.  The yak may have diverged from cattle at any point between one and five million years ago, and there is some suggestion that it may be more closely related to bison than to the other members of its designated genus.  Apparent close fossil relative of the yak, such as Bos baikalensis, have been found in eastern Russia, suggesting a possible route by which yak-like ancestors of the modern American bison could have entered the Americas.

Yaks are heavily built animals with a bulky frame, sturdy legs, and rounded cloven hooves.  Although wild yaks are generally dark, blackish to brown in colour  , domestic yaks can be quite variable in colour often having patches of rusty brown and cream.  They have small ears and a wide forehead, with smooth horns that are generally dark in colour.  In males, the horn sweep out from the sides of the head and then curve forward; they typically range from 48 to 99 cm (19 to 39 ins) in length.  The horns of females are smaller and have a more upright shape.

Yak physiology is well adapted to high altitudes, having larger lungs and heart than cattle found at lower altitudes, as well as greater capacity for transporting oxygen through their blood due to the persistence of foetal haemoglobin throughout life.  Conversely they do not thrive at lower altitudes and begin to suffer from heat exhaustion above about 15C (59F).  Further adaptations to the cold include a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and an almost complete lack of sweat glands. 

Yaks mate in the summer, typically between July and September, depending on the local environment.  For the remainder of the year, many males wander in small bachelor groups away from the large herds, but as the rut approaches, they become aggressive and regularly fight each other to establish dominance.  In addition to non-violent threat displays, bellowing, and scraping the ground with their horns, male yaks also compete more directly, repeatedly charging at each other with heads lowered or sparring with their horns.  Like bison, but unlike cattle, males wallow in dry soil during the rut, often while scent-marking with urine or dung.  Females enter oestrus up to four times a year, and are receptive only for a few hours in each cycle.

Gestation lasts between 257 and 270 days, so the young are born between May and June, and results in the birth of a single calf.  The female finds a secluded spot to give birth but the calf is able to walk within about 10 minutes of birth and the pair soon rejoin the herd.  Calves are weaned at one year and become independent shortly afterwards.  Wild calves are initially brown in colour and only later develop the darker adult hair.  Females generally give birth for the first time at three or four years of age and reach their peak reproductive fitness at around six years.  Yaks may live for more than 20 years in domestication or captivity, although it is likely this may be somewhat shorter in the wild.

Contrary to popular belief, yaks and their manure have little to no detectable odour when maintained appropriately in pastures or paddocks with adequate access to forage and water.  Yak's wool is naturally odour resistant.

I have found some interesting information about the wild yak which has quite fascinated me and I will continue this in part 2 of the yak story.

X is for XENARTHRA

The superorder Xenathra is a group of placental mammals (infraclass Eutheria), extant today only in the Americas and represented by the anteaters, tree sloths and armadillos.  The origins of the order can be traced as far back as the Paleogene (about 60-65 Ma, shortly after the Mesozoic) in South America.  Xenarthrans developed and diversified extensively in South America during its long period of isolation.  They invaded the Antilles by the early Miocene and, starting about nine million years ago, they spread to Central and North America as part of the Great American Interchange.  Nearly all of the formerly abundant megafaunal xenarthrans, such as ground sloths, glyptodonts and pampatheres, west extinct at the end of the Pleistocene.

Xenarthrans share several characteristics that are not present in other placental mammals.  The name Xenarthra, which means "strange joints", was chosen because their vertebral joints have extra articulations and are unlike those of any other mammals - a character referred to as "xenarthry" - and ischiosacral fusion.  The males have internal testicles, which are located between the bladder and the rectum.  Also, xenarthrans have the lowest metabolic rate among the therians.

One member of this order is the GIANT ANTEATER (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) which can be found in large parts of southern Central America and the northern and central parts of South America.  Populations are densest in the tropical forests, grasslands, and highlands where ants are most abundant.  Its coat is brown with a large black and white stripe on the shoulder and it a long snout and a large, bushy tail.  It has small ears and eyes, which contributes to the streamlined appearance of its head.  The giant anteater has a long, thin tongue that it uses to extract ants from their mounds.  It also has one of the lowest body temperatures of any known kind of mammal (91F).

It eats carpenter ants and other large ants are also its primary food.  They usually ignore termites. army ants, and other species of ants with large jaws.  Ants are carefully removed from the colony when the anteater inserts its long tongue covered with sticky saliva in the mound where it will dine for about one minute before moving on to another mound.  A keen sense of smell is critical for this anteater as it is used to locate colonies located in the anteater's territory.  They also have a keen sense of hearing that is used to warn the anteater of approaching predators, i.e. pumas and jaguars.

These giant anteaters are solitary animals that usually only pair up for a brief period of the time during the mating season.  After about 140 days of gestation, the mother gives birth to a single offspring.  The newborn crawls onto the back of the mother.  The baby suckles for about 6 months and will not feed independently until it is about two years old.
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This next animal is a creature that has always fascinated me over the years and I was pleased to learn more about them and share the information with you.

Another member of this order is the THREE-TOED SLOTH (Bradypus variegatus).  The sloth is the world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat.  The plant gives it a greenish tint that is useful camouflage in the trees of its Central and South American rain forest home.

Sloths are identified by the number of long, prominent claws that they have on each front foot. There are both two-toed and three-toed sloths.  All of them are built for life in the treetops.  They spend nearly all of their time aloft, hanging from branches with a powerful grip aided by their long claws.  (Dead sloths have been known to retain their grip and remain suspended from a branch). Sloths even sleep in trees, and they sleep a lot - some 15 to 20 hours each and every day.  Even when awake they often remain motionless.  At night they eat leaves, shoots, and fruit from the trees and get almost all of their water from juice plants.

Sloths mate and give birth while hanging in the trees.  Three-toed sloths are often seen clinging to their mothers - they travel by hanging on to them for the first nine months of their lives.

On land sloths' weak hind legs provide no power and their long claws are a hindrance.  They must dig into the earth with their front claws and use their strong front legs to pull themselves along, dragging their bellies across the ground.  If caught on land, these animals have no chance to evade predators, such as big cats, and must try to defend themselves by clawing and biting.  Though they couldn't be clumsier on land, sloths are surprisingly good swimmers.  They sometimes fall directly from rain forest trees into rivers and stroke efficiently with their long arms.

The three-toed sloth emits a long, high-pitched call that echoes through the forests as "ahh-eeee" and because of this cry these sloths are sometimes called 'ais' (pronounced "eyes").  These animals also have an advantage that few other mammals possess:  they have extra neck vertebrae that allows them to turn their heads some 270 degrees.

I think these days I am a little sloth-like....I move very slowly and sometimes remain quite motionless even when awake!!!!
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The third member of this order is the ARMADILLO (of the family Dasypodidae) which is native to both North America and South America, although only one species is found in the United States.  The average armadillo measures around 75cm in length, including the tail, but the giant armadillo can grow to more than 1.5m long and the miniature pink fairy armadillo (the smallest species) only gets to around 10cm in length.  There are around 20 species of armadillo still existent on the American continent with nine-banded armadillo being the only species outside of the South American tropics.

The armadillo has a hard outer shell and can curl up into a ball leaving no soft body parts exposed to danger (a bit like a woodlouse).  The armadillo also has long claws which it uses for digging burrows and hunting for insects in the earth.  Despite its odd shape, most armadillos can also reach a top speed of nearly 30 mph so can easily outrun most jungle predators.  The primary predators of the armadillo are bears, wolves, wildcats and cougars.  It has poor vision which makes it somewhat vulnerable in its jungle environment.  The armour is formed by plates of bone covered in relatively small overlapping scales.  the scales are known are scutes and these scutes are made up of bone covered with horn.

The armadillo has additional armour that covers the top of its head, the upper parts of the limbs and tail. The underside of the body has no armour, and is simply covered with soft skin and fur, hence its strategy of curling into a ball leaving only the armoured plates exposed.

The armadillo is generally an insectivore, meaning that the diet is primarily comprised of insects.  They also snack on other things including worms, spiders, snakes and frogs although the exact diet of the armadillo is very much dependent on the area which it inhabits.

Female armadillos give birth to around four young which are born after a gestation period of 3-4 months.  After birth, baby armadillos remain in the burrow for a few months, only feeding on their mother's milk.  Then then begin to forage with the mother, eventually leaving after six months to a year.  Some species of armadillo are known to reproduce every year so a single female can produce up to 5 young over the couse of her life.

This is the dainty fairy armadillo (the smallest of the armadillos) (Chlamyphorus truncatus).  Isn't it just so cute?

W (1) is for WOMBAT

I am sorry if this is a rather long post but the wombat is very special to we Aussies.

W is for the WOMBAT which are widespread and a favourite animal unless of course you happen to hit one in your car at night on a country road.  They are the size of a pig and very solidly built.

The name wombat comes from the now nearly extinct Darug language spoken by the aboriginal Darug people who originally inhabited the Sydney area.  It was first recorded in 1798 when John Price and James Wilson, a white man who had adopted aboriginal ways, visited the area of what is now Bargo, in New South Wales.  Price wrote "We saw several types of dung from different animals, one of which was called a Whom-batt, which is an animal about 20 inches high with short legs and a thick body with a large head, round ears, and very small eyes; it is very fat and has much the appearance of a badger.  Wombats were often called badgers by early settlers because of their size and habit.  Because of this, localities such as Badger Creek, Victoria, and Badger Corner, Tasmania, were named after the wombat. The spelling went through many variants over the years, including "Wambat", "Whombat", "Womat", "Wombach", and "Wombac", possibly reflecting dialectal differences in the Darug language.

1. The common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) lives in burrows in the forest and bushland areas of Australia in Tasmania, Eastern Victoria, and along the eastern ranges in New South Wales to Queensland.  It has very strong claws and muscular thick legs to help in its digging.  It has no natural enemies and can even survive smaller bush fires in its underground burrow.  There are three main varieties of wombat: the common wombat, the Southern Hairy nosed wombat and the Northern hairy nosed wombat.  The latter is very nearly extinct.  (see descriptions below).

In the winter in colder areas they move more slowly, and in snow covered areas will seek out the grass that is found a the base of snow gums.  They waddle slowly through deep snow until they get to the tree and can have a feed of grass.

Their diet is herbivorous and consists of roots, shoots and leaves.  They emerge in late afternoon for scavenging in the evening and throughout the night.  During the day they return to their burrows and go to sleep sometimes lying on their backs with their four feet sticking up in the air!

They actually make nice little pets that can life under the house, although they are not compatible with gardens. These wild animals are also not afraid of humans, and have often been found in national park camping grounds living in the bushes next to campsites.

Female wombats give birth to a single young in the spring, after a gestation period, which like all marsupials can vary; in the case of the wombat 20-21 days.  They have well developed pouches, which the young leave after aboutt

2. The Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) is similar in size to Common Wombats, but have softer, silkier, grey fur, long ears and a much broader nose. Females (like all wombat species) have a backward-facing pouch.  They are found in southern South Australia and south-east Western Australia on semi-arid grass plains.

One of the biggest threats to this species of wombat is mange, which is caused by a mite.  This causes terrible skin conditions and eventual death of the animals.  Wombats are also threatened by habitat destruction and being hit by cars.

Perth Zoo houses two Southern Hairy Nosed Wombats in the Australian Bushwalk.  By breeding this species valuable information on successful wombat reproduction and husbandry techniques is gained to assist the recovery team's work with its critically endangered cousin, the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat.

3. The Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat is an endangered species and bringing a species back from the brink of extinction is never easy.  Typically, it takes long-term commitment, amounting to lifetimes of hard work by dedicated scientists, managers and supporters.  That is especially true if the species if a big animal with a low breeding ratem because such species respond slowly to all efforts.  No species of Australian wildlife better illustrates these points than the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat.

This is the largest of Australia's three wombat species; females can weigh over 40kg.  It is distinguished from the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat by its broad muzzle and black eye-rings as well are large size. and from the Common Wombat by its silky grey fur, long ears and (of course) hairy nose.

Early in the 20th century it was thought that the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat was extinct, after the disappearance of the only two then known populations in southern Queensland and New South Wales  Then, in the 1930s, a small population was discovered in what is now Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland.  This population was in decline and, by 1982, there may have only been 30 or so animals left.

In 2000, the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat became the first species to be censused from remotely collected genetic samples.  The estimated population size was 113.  The latest census in 2010 found 163 wombats.  This is still a small number but represents as much as a four-fold increase in the population since its habitat was protected.  The animals live in a dry tropical environment, where most rain falls in an unreliable summer wet season.  Several good wet seasons in succession may be needed for females to breed and for their young to survive to weaning.  It might be only in periods like the last few years, with three excellent wet seasons in a row, that the population increases.  Evidence from remote camera and footprints suggests that many young have been born recently.

We can only hope that all the wombats survive and particularly this one.  There is a lot more information available about the work being done to help its survival if anyone is interested in checking it out.  Too much for me to add here but all of it extremely interesting.

THINKING OUT LOUD

Sometimes I think about things past and present and there are times when I'd like to share my thoughts and as I can't always burden himself with what I'm thinking I thought I would burden you with them instead!!!  How self-indulgent of me to think anyone would be interested but here goes anyway.

While lying in bed this morning (I was being self-indulgent there too as this damned cold thingie won't leave me) I was listening to the truck picking up the wheelie bins and taking our rubbish away.  It was then I began to think back to when I was a child when we had just the one quite tiny metal bin, with lid, that used to sit out of the way in our back garden.  In those days the 'garbo' used to leave his truck, walk down our side path with his own bin on his shoulder and tip our rubbish into his bin and then deposit said rubbish in his truck.

In later years we had to take our rubbish bins out (by then I think they were solid plastic bins and possibly a little larger than the metal bins, and put them, I think, by the front gate/fence so the man didn't have to spend so much time walking into people's back gardens to collect the rubbish.  That probably saved problems with dogs and leaving gates open etc., and I feel the unions may have also had a hand in that decision. The other thing that crossed my mind when thinking about all that and those quite small bins was the fact that they were seldom full!

These days we have two bins....one for the recyclable rubbish (or at least they try and tell us they recycle all that stuff) and the other (in our area) for anything that can be composted.  I believe some areas actually have three different bins.  We have a list of what can go in that green bin and I can't help laughing when I read it because I'd never think of putting toothbrushes or toothpaste tubes in our own compost at home, plus several other items I can't help wondering about.  If you have doubts about what goes into which bin you can ring and ask those that supposedly know but even they don't know all the answers so it is no wonder we householders are at times quite bewildered by all this modern thinking.  The yellow topped bin is easy....you put everything in there that doesn't go into the green bin. : )

All the above led me to two separate thoughts, which were:

1.  How come two people (such as us) can these days produce so much rubbish whereas many years ago households could comfortably fit their weekly rubbish into one quite small bin, and

2.  How much worse off are the breweries because of the modernisation of garbage collection methods?  My parents didn't do it and I'm not sure whether we did it either but many, many people always used to leave out a couple of bottles of beer for the garbo every Christmas week.  Once mechanisation took over the men no longer got out of their trucks so consequently....no beer.  Even if only every third household in every street left out two bottles of beer at Christmas, how many bottles of beer would that amount to throughout the whole country?  I won't even try to do those maths but it gave me food for thought re the breweries.   Did they suddenly recognise a dramatic drop in sales?  What do you think?

V is for VERVET

The vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), or simply vervet, is an 'old world monkey' of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa.  The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus Chlorocebus.  The five distinct subspecies can be found mostly throughout Southern Africa, as well as some of the eastern countries. Vervets were transported to the islands of Barbados, Saint Kitts, and Nevis in conjunction with the African slave trade.  These mostly vegetarian monkeys have black faces and grey body hair colour, ranging in length from about 19ins (50cms) for males to about 16ins (40cms) for females.

In addition to very interesting behavioural research on natural populations, vervet monkeys serve as a non-human primate model for understanding genetic and social behaviours of humans.  They have been noted for having human-like characteristics, such as hypertension, anxiety, and social and dependent alcohol use.  Vervets live in social groups ranging from 10-50 individuals, with males changing groups at the time of sexual maturity.  The most significant studies done on vervet monkeys involve their communication and alarm calls, specifically in regard to kin and group recognition and particular predator sightings.

The vervet eats a primarily vegetarian diet, living mostly on wild fruits,  flowers, leaves, seeds, and seed pods.  In agricultural areas, vervets become problem animals as they will raid bean crops, peas, young tobacco plants, vegetables, fruit and various grain crops.  Carnivorous aspects of their diet include grasshoppers and termites.  Raids of cattle egrets and weaver bird nest have been observed where the vervets will eat the eggs and chicks.

Female vervets do not have outward signs indicating a menstruation period, thus there are no elaborate social behaviours involving reproduction.  Typically, a female can give birth at any time during the year after a gestation period of about 165 days.  Usually only one infant is born at a time, though twins can occur rarely.  A normal infant weighs 300-400 grams.

In spite of low predator populations in many areas, human development has encroached on wild territories, and this species is killed by electricity pylons, vehicles, dogs, pellet guns, poison and bullets, and is trapped for traditional medicine, bush meat, an for biomedical research.  The vervet has a complex and fragile social system, its persecution is thought to have affected troop structures and diminish numbers.

This species was known in ancient Egypt including the Red Sea Mountains and the Nile Valley.  From fresco artworks found in Akrotiri on the Mediterranean island of Santorini there is evidence that the vervet money was known to the inhabitants of this settlement around 2000BC; this fact is most noted for evidence of early contact between Egypt and Akrotiri.

It's status according to the IUCN is "least concern" (I am not entirely sure what that means but I would be concerned about the future of this little animal).