It’s Monkey Month!
With apologies to the apes and prosimians—yes, we know they’re not monkeys—iWild is about to go hog-wild for all things primate, highlighting a different endangered simian every day this month. Sadly, there are plenty to choose from: One in four primates may become extinct without drastic conservation intervention. Some are already gone. But hope remains: For example, Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus, thought to be lost forever, may survive in small numbers in a small corner of the Ivory Coast—although not even a photograph of that beautiful but imperiled animal exists.
Earlier this year, the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) issued a list no self-preserving monkey wants to be caught dead on, identifying the top 25 most endangered primates on earth. It has been impossible to survey areas wracked by war or conflict to ascertain the whereabouts and population of certain species. That’s no reason to forget about them: Our nearest relatives, from lemurs to langurs, are part of the family too. We can’t spare a single one.
