The critically endangered Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecusstrykeri), a species that was only discovered in 2010, was captured by KaungHaung, a member of the local Law Waw tribe in Myanmar. He works with Fauna & Flora International (FFI), a non-governmental organization, to monitor camera traps set up to photograph the monkeys. As an FFI press release recounts, “Full of excitement and with shaky hands he filmed the large band of snub-nosed monkeys leaping through the canopy up above him.”

The organization has been working to conserve the monkey’s habitat in northern Burma and establish a community ranger program and other alternative livelihoods for the people who live in the area and hunt wild animals for food. The species is also threatened by illegal loggers from China who are cutting down the forest habitat and have in the past engaged in armed combat with local peoples. FFI is trying to get the area where the monkeys live declared a national park, which could ease many of those pressures.

Myanmar snub-nosed monkeys are geographically separated from other snub-nosed species, all of which are also endangered. It has black fur, a tail 140 percent the length of its body and an upturned nose that collects water when it rains, causing the animals to sneeze.

As well as taking the world’s first photographs of the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, the camera traps set up by the team also captured images of other rare animals, including the red panda, takin, marbled cat and Malayan sun bear.

The video can be seen, by clicking on the following link-                                                        http://youtu.be/J9maq4OYBgE