Endangered Monkeys List

Even though several species of monkeys are fighting for their basic survival on the planet today, the extinction threat for these animals fail to make it to the headlines, like the extinction threat for the animal species like the tigers or the rhinos does. This can be attributed to the fact that there are numerous species and sub-species of monkeys, some of which most of us are not even aware of. One can see a significant variation in the population of different monkey species. Some monkey species are found in abundance in their natural habitat, while some are enlisted as 'Critically Endangered' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Taking that into consideration, the number of species featuring in the endangered monkeys list given below is bound to take you by surprise.

Endangered Monkeys Facts
Even though there are approximately 264 species of monkeys in the world today, the rate at which their number is declining is giving the environmentalists some sleepless nights. The rapid decline over the last decade or so has brought many of these species on the verge of extinction. This decline in monkey population throughout the world can be traced to two important factors - excessive hunting and destruction of habitat. Several monkey species, including the Roloway monkey and the Pennant's red colobus monkey found in Africa, are excessively hunted for their meat, while the species such as the Miss Waldron's Red Colobus are hunted extensively for their skin which has a considerable demand in the international market. It may be surprising for many, but even today these animals are being killed for the use of their various body parts in traditional medicine. Monkeys as pets are also gaining wide popularity, and hunters have been quick to capitalize on this fact. In a bid to capture these monkeys, hunters use snares which leave them injured, if not trapped, and eventually results in their death. Human encroachment has also resulted in wide scale destruction of monkey habitat. Illegal logging, land clearance for agriculture, expanding human settlements and other such factors are causing the natural habitat of this animal to deplete at an alarming rate, thus leaving them homeless and vulnerable to hunting.

Endangered Monkeys List
The number of monkey species which have been driven to the verge of extinction owing to the various reasons mentioned above is bound to leave you baffled. Given below is the list of endangered monkeys from around the world.

• Andean Night Monkey
• Bale Monkey
• Barbara Brown's Titi
• Beni Titi Monkey
• Black-faced Black Spider Monkey
• Black Colobus
• Black Squirrel Monkey
• Black-fronted Titi
• Brown-headed Spider Monkey
• Brumback's Night Monkey
• Coimbra Filho's Titi
• Colombian Woolly Monkey
• Common Woolly Monkey
• Diana Monkey
• Dryad Monkey
• Dusky Leaf-monkey
• Geoffroy's Peruvian Woolly Monkey
• Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
• Golden-backed Squirrel Monkey
• Gray-handed Night Monkey
• Guatemalan Black Howler Monkey
• Guiana Spider Monkey
• Guizhou Snub-nosed Monkey
• L'hoest's Monkey
• Long-haired Spider Monkey
• Mantled Howler Monkey
• Mitred Leaf Monkey
• Muriqui
• Ollala Brothers' Titi Monkey
• Ornate Titi
• Owl-faced Monkey
• Panamanian Night Monkey
• Preuss' Red Colobus Monkey
• Phayre's Leaf-monkey
• Poeppig's Woolly Monkey
• Preuss' Red Colobus Monkey
• Preuss's Monkey
• Proboscis Monkey
• Red-backed Squirrel Monkey
• Red-eared Nose-spotted Monkey
• Red-handed Howler Monkey
• Sclater's Guenon
• Sichuan Snub-nosed Monkey
• Spix's Red-handed Howler Monkey
• Sun-tailed Monkey
• Tana River Red Colobus Monkey
• Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey
• Variegated Spider Monkey
• White-cheeked Spider Monkey
• Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey
• Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey
• Zanzibar Red Colobus

This endangered monkeys list includes both - the New World monkeys, belonging to the Ceboidea super-family, as well as the Old World monkeys, belonging to the super-family Cercopithecoidea.

Going by the alarming rate at which this list of endangered monkeys is growing, it wouldn't be long before we witness a few more extinctions on this planet. If the aforementioned factors responsible for the decline in the monkey population are not curbed soon, all these monkey species will be added to the list of the extinct animals, thus leaving the planet devoid of some of the most interesting members of kingdom Animalia.