Scientists said a new species of snub-nosed monkey found in Kachin State, northern Burma, is critically in danger of extinction according to the American Journal of Primatology.

The snub-nosed monkey from Kachin State is different from those previously discovered in China and Vietnam by scientists. The new species has been given the scientific name Rhinopithecus strykeri.

“Our data on hunting pressure suggest that the species is critically endangered,” said the report.

Lashi Ah Nan, the spokesperson for the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) based in Thailand said there may be more new species in Kachin State, but the wild animals are threatened with extinction by dam construction and wide spread deforestation caused by logging.

“They (wild animals) depend on the natural resources found in the forest, but now dam construction and logging around Kachin State is destroying all of these resources,” she said.

She added, there is a lack of research and concern about the environmental effects from the hydro power projects being constructed by the Burmese military government and China. The projects could put many more species of wild animals in danger of extinction.

At least seven dams, including the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam construction project, have been planned and are under construction by the junta and China in Kachin State, in heavily forested areas full of natural resources.

“Not only are this species (snub-nosed monkey) but others are in danger from the environmental destruction”, said Awng Wa, Chairman of KDNG based on China-Burma border.

Several villages in the area have been relocated because of the construction, and environmentalists and human rights activists are concerned about the environmental impact of the project on human life.

According the group who conducted field surveys and interviews with hunters this year on two sides of the Mali Hka River and N’mai Hka River, in northern Kachin State, the population of the new species is about 260-330.

“This new species is distinguished from other species by its black or blackish ventral parts, all black or blackish limbs, and a white chin beard,” said the report.

The most significant feature of the snub-nosed monkey is their wide upturned nostrils. The openings face forwards and the flaps of skin lateral to the nostrils are directed upwards, according to the report.

Awng Wa said the international community must help protect the species by giving awareness training to the local people so they will stop hunting the animal, as well as pressuring the Burmese government.