In Congo, there is a species of monkey that has attracted attention for its peculiar appearance.
Unlike the average monkey, although it also eats plants, it does not like to swing around in the trees. In fact, it prefers to hang out on the ground, of course, this does not mean that it can not climb, which only shows that this monkey has been able to face more threats on the ground.
However, the most memorable thing is its appearance: a face that is very similar to the human face, except for the pink hairs on the face, the whole body is golden mane, the body is not large, generally only 10 pounds, 50 cm long, but has a bright blue buttocks, which is a color containing life, because after it dies, the blue skin will gradually turn white.
This is one of the few new species discovered in recent years: lesula, also known as the kiwi.
Many people look at the pictures of kiwi monkeys and think that this monkey looks familiar, and even compares it with the faces of celebrities such as the Mona Lisa, because they think that this monkey has the same emotional eyes as humans, and something in the eyes makes us think that it is "human".
The first kiwi monkeys were discovered by John Hart and his wife, and the time goes back to 2007, but it was officially recognized by everyone in 2012.
Why did it take so many years to determine that this was a new species?
Kiwi monkeys are found in Congo's Lomami Forest, an area of about 6,500 square miles between the Lomani and Tshuapa rivers, which is about the same size as Hawaii.
Scientists are still very unfamiliar with this mysterious area and have not studied it in depth, so for a long time, scientists have not discovered this new species.
The John Harts first saw the kiwi monkey at a school in a remote village, which was imprisoned here as a pet for the principal's daughter, and they realized that this monkey was different from other monkeys they had seen before.
However, discovering new species is not as easy as taking a photo, especially in a forest as remote and vast as Congo.
It took the researchers three years to prove it was a new species, a process that included installing cameras and tape recorders in the forest to observe and figure out what it was making, as well as collecting skin samples from dead monkeys for further study.
Eventually, scientists used skin genetic testing to finally determine the identity of the kiwi monkey and the time of differentiation with other species.
In the same zone, scientists have found another kind of long-tailed monkey that is very similar to the kiwi monkey, which belongs to the same family of long-tailed monkeys, but the kiwi monkeys are lighter in color, and the two monkeys were isolated millions of years ago because of the rivers that could not be crossed geographically, becoming two completely different species.
Locally, kiwis are a type of "jungle meat"
For us, this monkey is a new species, but for the locals, they are not strangers, and all along, the locals are hunting them in large numbers, using them as a kind of edible meat.
Although the kiwi monkeys are in remote areas, they are not in a good situation.
They inhabit a country that is not friendly to animals, and while environmentally aggressive measures have been taken to establish more than 3,000 square miles of national parks, poaching is still rampant.
This, combined with deforestation and industrial development, has severely damaged their habitat, putting this "human-faced monkey" and many other primates at risk.
Kiwi monkeys, as jungle meat, have been drastically reduced in number with a wider hunt, and no one knows what they will face.
Thankfully, there are also caring people like The John Harts who are still insisting that they have been studying and protecting the local natural environment in order to protect these animals.