Wonderful World: Miller's Grizzled Langur (Dracula Monkey) Not Extinct

'Dracula' Monkey Comes Back From The Dead In Borneo

By Rob Waugh  (Daily Mail, UK)

Last updated at 11:33 AM on 20th January 2012

An 'extinct' monkey has been rediscovered in the rainforest of Borneo by an international team of scientists on a new expedition.


One of the rarest and least known primates in the world, Miller's Grizzled Langur, has been found alive - it was thought the species had been wiped out in 2004. The species has a distinctive dark face and white, Dracula-esque 'collar' of fur.


Some of the only photos in existence of the rare animal were snapped by camera traps and have provided the first solid evidence that it is still alive.


The endangered monkey was discovered living in the Wehea Forest, East Kalimantan, Borneo, a largely undisturbed rainforest where it was previously not known to exist.

Brent Loken, from Simon Fraser University Canada, said: 'While our finding confirms the monkey still exists in East Kalimantan, there is a good chance that it remains one of the world's most endangered primates.'


'I believe it is a race against time to protect many species in Borneo. It is difficult to adopt conservation strategies to protect species when we don't even know the extent of where they live.'


The Miller's Grizzled Langur is part of the small primate genus Presbytis, found across Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Thai-Malay Peninsula.


In Borneo, it was only found in a small corner of the county's north east and its habitat has suffered from fires, human habitation and conversion of land for agriculture and mining.

But the team of scientists stumbled upon the monkey when trekking through the 38,000 hectare rainforest which contains at least nine known species of non-human primate, including the Bornean orangutan and gibbon.


Mr Loken said: 'Discovery of P.h canicrus was a surprise since Wehea Forest lies outside of this monkey's known range.


'Future research will focus on estimating the population density for P.h. canicrus in Wehea and the surrounding forest.'


'Concern that the species may have gone extinct was first raised in 2004, and a search for the monkey during another expedition in 2008 supported the assertion that the situation was dire.'

His team spotted the primate by watching mineral licks where animals congregate and setting up camera traps in the areas west of its previously recorded geographical range.


Mr Loken said: 'It was a challenge to confirm our finding as there are so few pictures of this monkey available for study.'


'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.'

Dr Stephanie Spehar, from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, added: "East Kalimantan can be a challenging place to conduct research, given the remoteness of many remaining forested areas, so it isn't surprising that so little is known about this primate.


'We are very grateful to our local partners.
 

'This discovery represents the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of Western and Indonesian scientists, students, NGOs, as well as local communities and government.

 
The team's findings are published in the American Journal of Primatology.



Sam Cooke: Wonderful World (1960) (link)