First-ever photos of rare monkey prove it's not extinct

Scientists have snapped the first images of an African monkey that hasn't been seen in more than a half century was thought by many scientists to be extinct.

Two primatologists working in the forests of the Republic of Congo photographed the Bouvier's red colobus monkey in March. The primates were spotted in a swamp forest along the Bokiba River in the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park.

"Our photos are the world's first and confirm that the species is not extinct," said Lieven Devreese who along with Gaël Elie Gnondo Gobolo trekked to the 4,572-square-kilometer (1,765-square-mile) protected area created in 2013 to safeguard gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, and other species.

The Wildlife Conservation Society, which played a role in beefing up protection for the park, welcome the discovery.

"We're very pleased indeed that Lieven and Gaël were able to achieve their objective of not only confirming that Bouvier's red colobus still exists, but also managing to get a very clear close-up picture of a mother and infant," WCS's Fiona Maisels said. "Thankfully, many of these colobus monkeys live in the recently gazetted national park and are protected from threats such as logging, agriculture, and roads, all of which can lead to increased hunting."

Almost nothing is known about Bouvier's red colobus (Piliocolobus bouvieri), a species of monkey endemic to the Republic of Congo. It has been considered a subspecies of a larger colobus taxonomic group in the past and is believed to be threatened by the growing demand for bushmeat in the region.