Monkey Thieves
Monkey Thieves (), also known as Rebel Monkeys, is a documentary series produced by National Geographic, examining the habits and social interactions of rhesus macaques in the city of Jaipur, in northwestern India. "Monkey Thieves" follows a family of urban macaques within Jaipur's 'Pink City' and all the drama that comes from living close to humans. The series tells the story of the "Galta Gang", a sixty-strong troop that lives in the Galta Temple, a Hindu temple on the outskirts of Jaipur. This bunch live in luxury because worshipers believe they personify Hanuman, the cherished 'Monkey God' who banished evil in the Indian epic Ramayana. Defending their prized home from invaders including neighboring langur monkeys and other troops of macaques, as well as exploring Jaipur in search of food and adventure, keeps this troop in action.
Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association
The unusual snub-nosed monkey found in the Maw River area of northeastern Kachin state in northern Burma was studied in 2010 by a research team led by Swiss primatologist Thomas Geissman and Ngwe Lwin of BANCA. The monkey was identified in 2012 as a new species "Rhinopithecus strykeri". The monkey is a critically threatened species. It is known in local dialects of Lisu people as "mey nwoah" and Law Waw people as "myuk na tok te", both of which mean "monkey with an upturned face". It is for this special facial structure that it is known to sneeze when it rains, which earns it a more popular epithet "the sneezing monkey". The discovery was heralded as one of the "Top 10 New Species 2012" by the International Institute for Species Exploration. In 2012 it was also listed at no 9 of the "Top 10 weirdest new species" by the Chinese news portal, China.org.cn. The team leader Ngwe Lwin and chairman Tony Htin Hla were also involved in the establishment of the phylogenetic relationship of the new monkey with other Asian monkeys.