Mysterious animal spotted in the Amazon for the first time in 80 years

In the 1930-ies the scientists first met in the Amazon jungle, a dark shaggy creature with Golden feet. The mysterious beast was one of the species of Saki monkey and was named Pithecia vanzolinii, in honor of the Brazilian zoologist Paulo Vanzolini. Over the last 80 years, scientists have never managed to see it in a live environment until the search was not joined by Laura Marsh, Director of the Global Institute for the conservation of nature and the world's leading expert on Saki monkeys.

To find the elusive beast, Marsh and her team went to a four-month expedition to the unexplored part of Western Amazonia. They set sail on a small two-story houseboat and swam to the river Aire which runs near the Peruvian border of Brazil.

The team gathered to document and study the biodiversity of the landscape, but the main purpose was Vanzolini. When the March first saw the monkey after so many years of waiting, I couldn't hold back the tears.

"It was fantastic! The excitement my hands were shaking so bad that barely managed to take pictures" she said in a telephone interview with National Geographic.

Marsh has spent many years studying the taxonomic structure of monkeys Saki, but still she lacked photographic evidence of the uniqueness of the species. Unlike other species of monkeys, Vanzolini no prehensile tails that allow them to easily jump on the trees. It compares Saki with cats running on the thin branches four.

The research team found that the habitat Vanzolini sakis covers the entire river basin. The expedition leader will determine the status of monkeys for the International Union for conservation of nature. The organization monitors animal populations and informs about the threats faced by endangered species.

According to Marsh, most likely, it will mark their status as threatened, but it all depends on how things are going with hunting in the region. The report command is consistent with an indisputable fact — the development of the Amazon, is gaining momentum. Development projects the construction to reduce pressure on the city, led to a massive influx of population.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»