Surprisingly, this primate was discovered only in 2010 in the highlands of Burma and is the rarest on Earth. According to local residents, monkeys are easy to see during the rainy season, when water gets into their noses, they sneeze. To avoid this, they tilt their head and hold it between their knees. Snub-nosed monkeys spend almost their entire life in trees - 90% of the time. Here they eat, sleep, clarify the relationship between the males, and clean the fur.
The Burmese snub-nosed monkey, or Rhinopithecus strykeri, is a species of thin-bodied monkey that scientists discovered in Burma in 2010. They are often confused with the bright orange Rhinopithecus roxellana, which lives in the central and southern regions of China.
The snub-nosed monkey was discovered by a group from the Myanmar Primate Conservation organization sponsored by John Stryker. This new monkey was named after him. Scientists who conducted an expedition to the north of Burma received skulls and bones of the future Rhinopithecus strykeri from local hunters. Scientists examined the remains and decided that they may belong to a species not yet described. Further, scientists still managed to find primates in the valleys of the Mekong and Salween rivers. According to scientists, only one population of Burmese snub-nosed monkeys was discovered - about 300 individuals.
In addition to its distinctive black color with a white muzzle, the main feature of this monkey is a deformed, raised nose (see photo). According to local hunters, during the rain, the monkey sneezes loudly, as water gets into their nose. Therefore, often during the rain, she can be seen sitting with her head bowed between her knees, thereby protecting herself from the rain. Locals call this monkey - "mey nwoah", which in Burmese means "a monkey with his head up." The Burmese monkey is on the verge of extinction due to the fact that the locals eat it, and it has no cultural value for them. The Burmese snub-nosed monkey is the rarest species of the primate order.
Local tribes have long been familiar with these animals and call them - a monkey with an upside-down face.
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Presumably, three or four flocks live on an area of 270 square kilometers. They live only in the northeast of Burma, that is, in the Eastern Himalayas at an altitude of 1700 (in winter) to 3200 meters (in summer, when there is no snow), in isolation from other primates. Their total number is estimated at 260-330 monkeys.
“It’s incredible to discover a new species of primate, especially a new species of snub-nosed monkey, because it’s extremely, extremely rare,” Frank Momberg, director of Asia-Pacific development at Fauna & Flora International, told the BBC. (FFI). With these snub-nosed monkeys, Burma now has 15 primate species, highlighting the country's importance to biodiversity conservation on earth.”
Fauna & Flora International is calling for urgent action to protect the newly discovered primate species. First of all, they make their appeals to the timber merchants. "If we can convince the locals to stop hunting snub-nosed monkeys and create a patrolling group, and provide alternative livelihoods for those who depend entirely on the income from logging, we can save [the species] from extinction," - Frank Momberg said.
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