Extinct monkey may be alive

Very cool - from CNN News bq. A species of monkey thought likely to be extinct may still be swinging through the trees in Africa, according to an anthropologist. bq. The Miss Waldron's red colobus monkey was declared likely extinct in 2000 by a team that included W. Scott McGraw, an assistant professor of anthropology at Ohio State University. None had been seen since 1978, but McGraw said he has evidence the species survives. bq. Two years ago, McGraw retrieved the skin of a monkey a hunter killed in Ivory Coast that had the markings of the red colobus, he said. The pelt had the species' typical black hair on its back with reddish fur on its forehead and thighs, along with freshly dried blood. bq. Recently, he received a photo from an associate in Africa that shows a dead red colobus. McGraw is convinced the photo is genuine, he said. And more: John Oates, an anthropology professor at Hunter College in New York City, also was part of the team that declared the species likely to be extinct. He said McGraw's findings do not surprise him. "We didn't dismiss the possibility that a few hung on somewhere," Oates said. "But no one's managed to see one jumping around in the trees." The researchers' work in 2000 suggested that the red colobus could have been the first species of primates to disappear in 200 years and warned that other species could soon become extinct unless deforestation and hunting were managed. Ivory Coast forbids hunting, but the ban is not strongly enforced, McGraw said. This is a hard thing to call - the Ivorians need to farm and hunt. The idea of laws to protect the environment is a good one but there needs to be an economic alternative in place before the people will switch lifestyles. Eco-Tourism is a good start - easy to start up and fast returns. The government needs to be relatively stable though - no invasions from France. There are lots of long term ideas as well (cottage high-tech industries) but they would require a relatively well-educated populace and there seems to be no indication of the Ivorian government going down that road at any time in the near future.