Photos: "Snubby" Monkey, Hula Frog Among New Most At-Risk Species

Caquetá Tití Monkey
Photograph by Javier Garcia
Discovered in 2010, Colombia's Caquetá tití monkey species may already be headed for extinction in the wild, according to the latest update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, released this month.
The Red List is a "critical indicator of the health of the world's biodiversity," according to IUCN. The list ranks species based on eight categories, ranging from "not evaluated" to "extinct."
Assessed by scientists for the first time in 2012, the bushy-bearded Caquetá tití monkey is now considered critically endangered—at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild—due to widespread habitat destruction and fragmentation. Rural peoples in eastern Colombia, who rely heavily on pockets of remaining forest, sometimes hunt the animal for food, according to IUCN. (See pictures of endangered species from the 2011 list.)
Of the 63,837 species evaluated for the 2012 Red List update, 19,817 are threatened with extinction, including about 41 percent of known amphibians and 25 percent of known mammals.
The 2012 Red List was announced on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which took place this week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Related: "Rio+20 Brings Hope and Solutions Despite Weak Talks.")
"A sustainable future cannot be achieved without conserving biological diversity—animal and plant species, their habitats, and their genes—not only for nature itself but also for all seven billion people who depend on it," IUCN director Julia Marton-Lefèvre said in a statement.
"The latest IUCN Red List is a clarion call to world leaders gathering in Rio to secure the web of life on this planet."
—Christine Dell'Amore
Published June 26, 2012
Regent Honeyeater
Photograph by Mark Baker, AP
The outlook appears bleak for the regent honeyeater, pictured above at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney: The rare bird was "uplisted" from endangered to critically endangered on the 2012 Red List.
Native to southeastern Australia, the regent honeyeater has seen "extremely rapid declines" during the past few decades, according to IUCN. The bird is hanging on in patches of forest that have become very isolated due to drought and encroaching agriculture, and the species is threatened by competition with other species.
(See pictures: "20 Surprising Species of the Past 20 Years.")
Published June 26, 2012
Snubby in the Flesh
Photograph courtesy FFI/BANCA/PRCF
Identified just a few years back, the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Scientists first learned of "Snubby"—as they nicknamed the new monkey species—from hunters in Myanmar (Burma)'s remote, mountainous Kachin state (map) in 2010.
At the time, the only scientifically observed specimen had been killed. Since then conservationists have snapped camera-trap pictures of live monkeys in their jungle home, such as the one seen above.
The rare species is hunted for its bones, fur, and head—notably its skull and brains, which are used for medicinal purposes. It's also accidentally caught in traps set for deer or wild pigs.
(See "Top Ten New Species: Snub-Nosed Monkey, Devil Worm, More [2012].")
Published June 26, 2012
Rio Branco Antbird
Photograph by Adam Riley, Rockjumper Birding
The song of the Rio Branco antbird may soon be silenced—the Amazon dweller has moved through three categories since it was last evaluated, going from near threatened to critically endangered in the 2012 Red List update.
This species lives exclusively along riverbeds in northern Brazil and western Guyana—areas expected to be completely lost due to human development within the next two decades.
"In order to prevent the extinction of this bird, protection of its habitat is urgently needed," IUCN officials said in a statement.
(See "Best Rare-Bird Pictures of 2010 Named.")
Published June 26, 2012
Hoary-Throated Spinetail
Photograph by Arthur Grosset
Already bumped from vulnerable to endangered in 2008, the hoary-throated spinetail has slid further toward extinction.
Now listed as critically endangered, the bird is limited to a tiny range in Brazil and Guyana, which is being cleared for cattle ranching and soy production. A model of future deforestation in the Amazon shows that the hoary-throated spinetail could lose 80 percent of its habitat by 2023.
(See pictures of the ten most threatened forests.)
Published June 26, 2012
Hula Painted Frog
Photograph by Oz Rittner
The hula painted frog lives in Israel's Hula Valley (map)—but maybe not for long. Thought extinct since 1955, the species was rediscovered in 2011 during a global search for the ten most wanted "extinct" amphibians. The frog is now deemed critically endangered by IUCN.
(See photos: "Bubble-Nest Frog, Other 'Extinct' Species Found.")
Draining marshes to kill malaria-spreading mosquitoes may have been responsible for the species' decline. Today the Hula Nature Reserve, established in 1964, protects only about 5 percent of the frog's original habitat.
However, the refuge also houses birds that may be hunting the rare species, according to IUCN. Surveys are underway to see if more of the frogs exist elsewhere in the valley.
Published June 26, 2012
Next: New "Most Endangered" Species of 2011
Photograph courtesy Geoff Deehan
Published June 26, 2012