'Extinct' monkey rediscovered in Bornean rainforest

Washington, Jan 21 (ANI): A monkey thought to be extinct has been rediscovered in Bornean rainforest.

Simon Fraser University PhD student Brent Loken made the re-discovery of a lifetime when he set up a camera trap in the rainforest in the hope to capture images of the elusive Bornean clouded leopard.

Reviewing time-lapse photos taken at a mineral lick in the Wehea Forest of East Kalimantan last June, he and his fellow researchers were stunned to see an animal they didn't recognize.

The pictures showed Miller's grizzled langur, one of the rarest and least-known primates on the island of Borneo, and also a species many suggested was extinct or on the verge of extinction.

"It was a challenge to confirm our finding as there are so few pictures of this monkey available for study," said Loken, who is in SFU's resource and environmental management program.

"The only description of Miller's grizzled langur came from museum specimens. Our photographs from Wehea are some of the only pictures that we have of this monkey.

Borneo, the third largest island in the world, has lost 65 per cent of its rainforest, largely due to palm oil plantations and coal mines.

"Finding Miller's grizzled langur in a forest outside of its known geographic range highlights how much we don't know about even the basic ecology of this monkey," stated Loken.

"We need more scientists doing research in Borneo to help us learn about understudied species such as Miller's grizzled langur and clouded leopards. The rapid degradation of Borneo's forests makes it difficult to learn about and adopt conservation strategies in time to protect species," he added.

Loken's camera traps were part of a larger biodiversity study he organized in collaboration with the local Wehea Dayak community to investigate the diversity and abundance of animals that were living in this remote forest.

The finding was published online this week in the American Journal of Primatology. (ANI)