January 20 Update

Courtesy of SFU Public Affairs and Media Relations, a roundup of Brent's research in the news around the world!

The discovery by SFU student Brent Loken of a monkey so rare it had been feared almost extinct was an instant hit with news media—with our monitors spotting 228 stories around the world within hours of the first news release.

SFU news release (from Dixon Tam, PAMR, with video and photos): http://at.sfu.ca/ruFIYD

A few samples of coverage:

• The Vancouver Sun: “The humidity was oppressive and the leeches insufferable as an expedition led by Simon Fraser University PhD student Brent Loken waded into the jungles of the Wehea Forest in eastern Borneo. . . .  With remote cameras set up in the forest near two mineral licks, Loken had hoped to obtain photos of the elusive and little known clouded leopard.
      What he got was a monkey—the Miller's grizzled langur—so rare that scientists consider it to be teetering on the edge of extinction. Even rarer, the discovery occurred where the monkey had not historically been documented.
      ‘We knew we had something special,’ Loken, 40, recalled Thursday in an interview. ‘We knew it was unique because it is a very distinct-looking monkey.’" Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/LcpzXh
• The Associated Press (in the Washington Post): “Forests where the monkeys once lived had been destroyed by fires, human encroachment and conversion of land for agriculture and mining and an extensive field survey in 2005 turned up empty.
      “For me the discovery of this monkey is representative of so many species in Indonesia," Loken told The Associated Press by telephone.
      “There are so many animals we know so little about and their home ranges are disappearing so quickly,’ he said. ‘It feels like a lot of these animals are going to quickly enter extinction.
  Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/tMGwmX
• BBC News: “‘Our findings confirm that indeed this monkey still lives in the forests of Borneo and we found that its range extends farther inland than scientists had previously thought,’ said PhD student Brent Loken from Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada. "This gives us hope that we may still be able to find large enough populations of this monkey to ensure its survival.’" Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/HqiVDN
• The UK’s Daily Mail: “Brent Loken, from Simon Fraser University, Canada, said: 'While our finding confirms the monkey still exists in East Kalimantan, there is a good chance that it remains one of the world's most endangered primates.'
      “'I believe it is a race against time to protect many species in Borneo. It is difficult to adopt conservation strategies to protect species when we don't even know the extent of where they live.'” Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/FpTpRw
• The science website of Wired.com: “‘Locals knew they lived in this forest but had no idea what they were looking at. When we saw them, we were shocked,’ said conservation scientist Brent Loken of Simon Fraser University, co-author of a study published online Jan. 20 in the American Journal of Primatology.
      “Little is known about the grizzled langurs, scientifically known as Presbytis hosei canicrus. Loken and his colleagues will have a prime opportunity to study the exceedingly rare monkeys, but they will have to move quickly.
      “‘There’s still intense debate of whether or not the Indonesian government will grant legal protection status for Wehea (a rainforest preserve),’ Loken said. ‘You could say this is very good timing for the rediscovery.’”
  Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/smSJbc
• Scientific American: “Two teams of researchers—working independently of each other—have located two new populations of the animals in Wehea Forest, 150 kilometers inland from their previously known locations.
      “Stephanie Spehar, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, was in Wehea studying the behavioral ecology of the area’s other primates . . . when one of her students, Eric Fell, captured photos of a primate they did not recognize.
      “Eight kilometers away, a research team led by Brent Loken, a PhD student at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, had set up camera traps hoping to capture images of the elusive Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi). Instead, they also found images of a primate they did not recognize.
      “Spehar and Loken, who each work with the local Wehea Dayak community to help preserve the forest, compared notes and concluded that they had observed the same species.” Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/ajJjuW
• Epoch Times: “‘It was a challenge to confirm our finding as there are so few pictures of this monkey available for study,’ Loken explained. ‘The only description of Miller’s Grizzled Langur came from museum specimens. Our photographs from Wehea are some of the only pictures that we have of this monkey.’” Full story: http://at.sfu.ca/JgTRKp
• Agence France Presse: http://at.sfu.ca/EiTKeS
• South Asian News Agency: http://at.sfu.ca/ryaaEH
• The Guardian (UK): http://at.sfu.ca/OpPUPm
• CBC News: http://at.sfu.ca/CmXzii
• Toronto Sun (QMI) news service: http://at.sfu.ca/cmhjjx
• Huffington Post: http://at.sfu.ca/btYgNW
• International Business Times:  http://at.sfu.ca/MZiVMx
• Sci-News.com: http://at.sfu.ca/TLiKje
• EarthTimes.org: http://at.sfu.ca/HomOol
• PlanetSave.com: http://at.sfu.ca/ANPaDN
• American Journal of Primatology news release: http://at.sfu.ca/miNaAR