A survey recently conducted in the northern province of Ha Giang has found the largest group of the endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys to date.

The Management Board of the protected area, known as the Khau Ca Species and Habitat Conservation Area, announced that as of December this year, up to 113 of the distinctive looking primates were recorded at the site.

With an estimated global population of around 250 individuals, the species has been pushed to the brink of extinction due to habitat loss and hunting, despite being protected under Vietnamese law.

About 60 individuals of this kind were found in 2002 in the provincial Khau Ca forest, according to Fauna & Flora International’s (FFI) statistics.

Since 2008, the management board has worked with local authorities and residents inhabiting the conservation site to develop the community-based forest protection model and support local livelihoods in order to protect and increase the number of this species.

Chief of Conservation for the Forest Protection Department Hoang Van Tue suggested the provincial People’s Committee and the international wild animal preservation pour additional money into developing the population of snub-nosed monkeys in a sustainable manner.

The locality has launched a number of campaigns to increase the living standards for nearly 6,000 ethnic groups living nearby the conservation area with a view to restricting some from poaching, Tue added.-VNA