Kipunji

The newly discovered Kipunji has recently been reclassified as a new genus, making this the first new monkey genus discovered in over 83 years.  Found only in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, the Kipunji is extremely rare, with only 500 individuals estimated in the wild. 

Since 2000, WCS has been working in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania to document and protect its wealth of biodiversity. This latest discovery adds to a long list of endemic species (over 120) which are found only in this remote area."Having been so involved in the creation of the Park and the conservation of Mt. Rungwe, it has been very exciting for us to help reveal more of their secrets, " said Dr Tim Davenport who directs the WCS Southern Highlands Conservation Program, and who led the team of Noah Mpunga, Sophy Machaga and Dr Daniela De Luca who found the monkey. "The real challenge now though, is to try and conserve them."

The threats to the Kipunji are considerable. Logging, hunting and unmanaged resource extraction are common in the Rungwe-Livingstone forests. The narrow forest corridors linking Mt Rungwe to Livingstone, and joining the northern and southern sections of Livingstone are all degraded. Without intervention these forests will be fragmented, resulting in isolated subpopulations of the monkey. Indeed, the easternmost animals are probably already isolated.

The arboreal Kipunji is characterized by long whiskers and a high crest of hair on the tip of its head. It lives in social groups of 30-36 individuals, and to date, 16 groups have been identified in the Rungwe-Livingstone area while 3 are found in the Ndundulu Forest Reserve. The Kipunji has a particularly unique call known as a "honk-bark".

Click here for a section of the 'honk-bark' call of the Kipunji , first recorded by WCS in Livingstone Forest, Kitulo National Park.

To watch the only existing video-footage of the Kipunji (©T.Davenport/WCS) click here

More high-resolution photographs of the Kipunji  are available for purchase to provide funds to help conservethis species. Please contact: tdavenport@wcs.org

Map of the range of the Southern Highlands