Vietnamese scientists are going to announce the discovery of a rare langur species in the northernl highlands province of Thai Nguyen, a local official told Thanh Nien.

According to Ngo Xuan Hai, chief of the provincial Forest Rangers Agency, a group of researchers discovered a herd of eight Francois’ Langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi) towards the end of last year at the Than Sa – Phuong Hoang Nature Reserve.

The research team comprised agency staff as well as lecturers of the Thai Nguyen University of Forestry, Hai said.

Also known as Francois’ Leaf Monkey, the primate was found in 23 different countries with a total population size of 2,000-2,500 individuals before 1990.

But hunting had dramatically decreaed its population to just Vietnam and China. However, the total number of this monkey species in the wild is unknown.

The monkey is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.