One after another, howler monkeys are falling from trees and dying in Mexico's intense heat. Authorities said on 20 May that they are investigating whether the extreme heat is killing the endangered monkeys.

Mexico's environment ministry said possible causes of the deaths being considered include heatstroke, dehydration, malnutrition and the fumigation of crops with pesticides.

The authorities will also test whether any virus or bacteria is responsible.

Temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius have recently been recorded in the southern states of Chiapas and Tabasco, where the howler monkey deaths have been reported.

The Mexican government has not said exactly how many monkeys have died so far. But Cobius, a Tabasco-based wildlife conservation group, has reported a "mass death".

In a statement it said this had probably happened for climatic reasons, "but we cannot rule out other important causes".

Appealing to local people, the group said: "If you see monkeys that are weak and visibly suffering from heat or dehydration, please try to lift up a bucket of water on a rope for them to drink."

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is from Tabasco. He too pointed to the extreme temperatures as a possible cause of the monkey deaths.

At his regular press conference the president said: "The heat is very strong. In all the time I have been visiting these states, I have never felt heat like now."

The Tabasco civil protection institute said authorities and other conservationists are supplying water and food, especially fruit, to keep the monkeys hydrated.

Citing: AFP.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.