Conservation International (CI), an NGO, on Tuesday announced a 5,000- dollar award for any individual or group of persons whose report will lead to the sighting of a rare monkey species, Miss Waldron's Red Colobus, alive.

According to World Conservation Union's primate specialist Group, Miss Waldron's Red Colobus, which was endemic in western Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, is now believed to be extinct.

"If is true that this particular sub-species is extinct, then we will be the first generation in the 21st century to lose a primate species," Mrs Ama Kudom- Agyemang, Communications Co-ordinator of CI, told a press conference in Accra. The monkey species, called "Ebene" in Twi, derived its name from the lady who first spotted it in the region.

Mrs. Kudom-Agyemeng said recent surveys failed to find any surviving population of the monkey. However, some conservationists think the survey was not thorough enough.

She said the survival of the primate is crucial because of the role they play in forest regeneration.

There are some trees that can never be planted by man and germinate only when they go through the digestive system of this rare species. "The extinction of the Miss Waldon's Red Colobus, therefore, has severe implications for the continuous existence of our forest," Mrs Kudom- Agyemeng said.

"To clear all doubts, Conservation International and the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission will soon undertake a nation-wide search for this primate," she said, adding that intensive preparation has already begun for the search to commence.