Kipunji Monkey Faces Extinction

by Ground Report    July 28, 2008

The Kipunji monkey of Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains is close to extinction says the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). This comes only three years after the tree-dwelling primate was first discovered.

The WCS estimated the Kipunji population at only 1,117 individuals in the first-ever census of the recently discovered species. The Kipunji's habitat is limited to 6.2 square miles in two locations in Tanzania's forest the census said but even that is threatened by illegal logging and land conversion projects.

The WCS is working on ways to help save the Kipunji by reducing the logging that threatens their habitat and illegal poaching which they believe has had a serious affect on the dwindling numbers.

For more information about the WCS's efforts at saving the Kipunji, visit their Web site at www.wcs.org.

Source: Newswise

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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