The kipunji, a monkey recently discovered in the Southern Highlands and Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania is hanging on by a thread. The population of the large, forest-dwelling primate hovers at just 1,117 individuals. The monkey’s range is restricted to 6.82 square miles of forest in two isolated regions.

Kipunji at play in the highlands of Tanzania (photo: Tim Davenport/WCS)

The Wildlife Conservation Society is investing in the protection and restoration of the kipunji’s remaining habitat and local conservation education of local people to help safeguard the species remaining populations.

Much of the monkey’s remaining habitat is severely degraded by illegal logging and land conversion. The monkey is, no surprise, the target of poachers.

DNA analysis in 2006 revealed that the kipunji represents an entire new genus of primate–the first identified since 1923.

Sourced from materials provided by Wildlife Conservation Society, via EurekAlert!