New "snub-nosed" monkey species discovered, killed, eaten

Xeni Jardin 12:36 pm Wed Oct 27, 2010

snub-nosed-sneezing-monkey-found-eaten_27911_600x450.jpg

Photograph: Ngwe Lwin via National Geographic.
Killed for food, an R. strykeri monkey is displayed in Myanmar in early 2010.

The only scientifically observed specimen of a newly discovered monkey species in Myanmar (Burma) was killed by local hunters by the time researchers found it. Shortly thereafter, it was eaten.

This species of monkey in fact so snub-nosed that it is said to sneeze uncontrollably when it rains. But "Snubby" has far greater problems than the sniffles.

Local demand for monkey flesh as a food source is one of many reasons the species is endangered; habitat destruction by Chinese logging companies is a big threat, which in turn leads to more hunting: no forest means fewer barriers to tracking and killing these beautiful, vulnerable beasts.

(via Submitterator, thanks, Ted and Marilyn Terrell)

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