'Extinct' Monkey rediscovered
Picture: AP
An expedition by an international team of scientists has found one of the rarest primates in Borneo, Miller's Grizzled Langur, alive and well in an area where it was not previously known. The species was previously believed to be extinct or in imminent danger of extinction after its only previously known habitat in the north-east of the island suffered badly from fires, human encroachment and the conversion of land for agriculture and mining. The team's findings were published in the American Journal of Primatology.
Miller’s Grizzled Langur (Presbytis hosei canicrus) is part of the small primate genus Presbytis, which is found across Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Thai-Malay Peninsula. The team’s expedition took to them to Wehea Forest in East Kalimantan, Borneo, which is a large 38,000 hectare area of mostly undisturbed rainforest. Wehea contains at least nine known species of non-human primate, including the Bornean orang-utan and gibbon.
By conducting observations at mineral licks where animals congregate and setting up camera traps in several locations, the expedition confirmed that P.h canicrus continues to survive in areas west of its previously recorded geographic range. The resulting photos provide the first solid evidence demonstrating that the species' geographic range extends further than previously thought.
“Future research will focus on estimating the population density for P.h. canicrus in Wehea and the surrounding forest," said Brent Loken, from Simon Fraser University of Canada. "Concern that the species may have gone extinct was first raised in 2004, and a search for the monkey during another expedition in 2008 supported the assertion that the situation was dire."
“While our finding confirms the monkey still exists in East Kalimantan, there is a good chance that it remains one of the world’s most endangered primates. I believe it is a race against time to protect many species in Borneo. It is difficult to adopt conservation strategies to protect species when we don’t even know the extent of where they live. We need more scientists in the field working on understudied species such as Miller’s Grizzled Langur, clouded leopards and sun bears.” Dr Loken concluded.
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