The Daily Express Online
Published on: Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sandakan: Proboscis monkeys living in mangrove forests here are under threat from shrinking habitat due to development projects, a wildlife sanctuary operator said.
Michael Lee Hing Huat, the owner of the Labuk Bay proboscis monkey sanctuary, said projects such as housing and township development caused forest fragmentation and threatened the wildlife's source of food.
"They are trapped in the fragmented and shrinking forests, forcing them to venture out in the open in search of food," he said.
This exposed them to danger, he said referring to a recent incident where a proboscis monkey was run over by a car in Jalan Utara.
He said he had informed the Wildlife Department and suggested alternatives to overcome the problem, among them was to relocate the proboscis monkeys to the Labuk Bay sanctuary.
The 263ha sanctuary currently has a population of 300 proboscis monkeys compared to about 100 when it was opened in 2001. - Bernama
2 comments:
This is the same thing that is happening to white-tailed deer where I live. Their habitat is shrinking so they live near cities now. I see them in my backyard very often. Our deer aren't endangered here though. There are still very many.
I heard about white-tailed deer from my friend too. Hopefully they survive well in their changing habitat...
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