
The kipunji monkey (Rungwecebus kipunji) was discovered in 2005 in the Southern Highlands and Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania. As genetic analyses revealed, the species represented an entire new genus of primate, the first since 1923. According to the census published by Wildlife Conservation Society, 1,117 kipunji monkeys are living in two isolated regions of forest in Tanzania. The newly discovered primate could disappear because the habitat is severely degraded by illegal logging and land conversion. The monkey are also haunted by poachers. The WCC officials proposed that that the kipunji be classified by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as “critically endangered,” which means the species is threatened with extinction in the wild if immediate conservation action is not taken.
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