Catch a glimpse of the world's rarest monkey: 05-08-2008
Adventure travellers on safari in Tanzania may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the world's rarest species of monkey.
The Rungwecebus kipunji was only discovered in 2005 and has recently been listed as critically endangered after a comprehensive study into the species numbers and migration habits.
The 20 scientists counted every single monkey over the space of six months and found that there were only 1,117 individuals existing in the world, based in two remote regions of Tanzania.
Wildlife Conservation Society country director Tim Davenport said it is likely that the species has the smallest number of individuals of any primate in the world.
"Without a doubt, they are the rarest monkey in Africa, and I would imagine there are very few with such small numbers in the world," he told National Geographic.
The monkeys were originally thought to be a new species of mangabey but DNA results sparked excitement in 2006 when it was revealed the rungwecebus was a separate genus from anything ever seen before, making it the first new genus discovered in Africa since 1923.
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