Another Conservation Success Story

In a world where the type of military weapon you should be using (Falcon versus Prowler?) gets more headlines than the hottest day on record, US Person wants to focus on conservation stories. There is a positive one coming from Tanzania. The Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji)is a lesser known monkey living in the country's southern highlands. The population there has increased by 65% following twenty years of intense conservation effort by the Wildlife Conservation Society in partnership with the Tanzania government. The monkey was facing extinction multiple times over the decades since 2003 when conservationists heard from local hunters that a monkey lived on the slopes of Mt. Rungwe they had never heard of existing. They were skeptical since the locals have a reputation for story-telling.

In May of that years they found out that the hunters were truth telling.  While working on a biodiversity project in the area, conservationists got their first look at the unusual monkey. After many months of trekking through thick montane forest, they found a species new to science.  But the Kipunji were in trouble.  The mountain where they live contains 93% of the total population and it is unprotected.  Human activity--logging, charcoal burning, and agriculture--were rapidly encroaching on their home.  The attention garnered by the discovery allowed support to arrive for the species' conservation.  Over the past 13 years signs of human disturbance has dropped by 81% says a journal article in the International Journal of Primatology.  The paper concludes that intervention successfully achieved preservation of the species.  The authors' survey shows 1,866 individuals in groups living in Livingston Forest (Kitulo National Park), Mt. Rungwe Nature Reserve and Madehani Village Forest (unprotected).  A habituated group also studied showed a 121% increase in size.

Kipunji eat a wide range of foods found in the forest.  They live in mixed groups and are territorial. Farmers in the area grow a variety of crops--bananas, corn, potatoes and carrots. Monkey groups occasionally approach the edge of the forest to raid fields.  Farmers retaliated by laying crude traps. WCS staff tried a number of deterrents; a combination of chili paste and dung smeared on corn stalks worked the best.  Farmers adapted by planting less preferred crops like avocados and potatoes close to the forest. WCS also worked to strengthen forest protections.  Livingston Forest was added to the newly formed Kitulo National Park (2005) and Mt. Rungwe was designated a nature reserve (2009). WCS also provided financial and technical support for personnel to protect these areas, while creating economic opportunities such as woodlots, beekeeping, tree planting, and community ranger programs.  Educational programs for youth living near the forest also played a significant role in reducing human disturbances and creating a sense of pride in the animals they live near. [photos credit: T. Davenport]

Despite all of these efforts the population of Kipunji is still classified as endangered by IUCN. The Kipunji was on the "Primates in Peril" list three times--2006-08, 2008-10, 2018-20--fortunately it is not on the most recent list. The most recent population estimate is 1966 including the Udzungwa Mountains population of 60-150 individuals.  The study shows that population size is increasing.  If they continue to be protected, the population could double in the next 25 years and expand into the forests.