Just three years after it was discovered, a new species of monkey is threatened with extinction according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which recently published the first-ever census of the endangered primate.
The kipunji was discovered only three years ago and it is already facing extinction. The Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS) has
just published the first-ever census of the endangered primate.
The study was published in the July issue of
Oryx and stats that the population of the kipunji monkey is around 11,117 individuals.
More than 2,800 hours of field work by WCS scientists in the Southern Highlands and Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania were involved in this estimate.
The monkey's range is restricted to just 6.82 square miles (17.69 square kilometers) of forest in two isolated regions.
Much of the monkey's remaining habitat is severely degraded by illegal logging and land conversion. To add to the monkey’s woes, it is falling victim to poachers.
The combined threats to the kipunji are why the World Conservation Union (IUCN) feels it should be classified as "critically endangered" – which means it is threatened with extinction in the wild if immediate conservation action is not taken.
"The kipunji is hanging on by the thinnest of threads," said Dr. Tim Davenport, Tanzania Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
"We must do all we can to safeguard this extremely rare and little understood species while there is still time."
WCS is investing in the protection and restoration of the kipunji's remaining habitat and local conservation education of local people to help safeguard remaining populations.
The kipunji first made headlines in 2005 when a team of scientists led by WCS announced its discovery. Then in 2006, the monkey made news again when DNA analysis revealed that the species represented an entire new genus of primate—the first since 1923.
Newly Discovered Monkey Is Threatened With Extinction
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