Scientists in central Vietnam have found a large colony of endangered grey-shanked doucs; the species of monkey are on the list of one of the 25 most endangered primates.

Scientists believe fewer than 1,000 such monkeys exist in five central provinces of Vietnam - Quang Nam, Kon Tum, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, and Gia Lai. They had previously seen only one other colony of more than 100 animals.

A Conservation International biologist says the finding, if put in a human perspective, is like discovering a new country with a billion residents.

Grey-shanked doucs, first described in 1997, are tree-dwelling colobine monkeys with orange faces and tufts of whiskers. Like many primate species in Vietnam, they face an uncertain future due to hunting and habitat loss. A 2006 IUCN assessment determined that 65 percent of Vietnam’s primate taxa are Endangered or Critically Endangered, making the country one of the highest global priorities for primate conservation.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2007 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Environment, Good News Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.