LONDON: Researchers photographed a rare African monkey while it was in the Republic of the Congo. It was long thought that the animal had gone extict but the picture broke that long-held belief.
Bouvier’s red colobus monkey was never seen out in the wild since 1970s. And it was a delight for Congolese researchers who saw it in the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park. They found the tiny red primate who was living among others in the forests that is located along the bank of the Congo River.
“We’re very pleased indeed that Lieven and Gaël were able to achieve their objective of not only confirming that Bouvier’s red colobus still exists, but also managing to get a very clear close-up picture of a mother and infant,” Fiona Maisels, of the Wildlife Conservatory Society (WCS), said in a press release. “Thankfully, many of these colobus monkeys live in the recently gazetted national park and are protected from threats such as logging, agriculture, and roads, all of which can lead to increased hunting.”
Lieven Devreese from Belgium and Gael Elie Gnondo Gobolo from the Republic of the Congo started their search for the red colobus monkey in February. The species was subjected to an intense drop in numbers because of hunting and logging decades ago. They put their existence in doubt and experts thought they had gone extinct.
