Monkeys are dropping dead while still holding their babies during killer heat wave

Nearly 100 monkeys and rare birds have been found dead on forest floors across Mexico as the country is scorched by a deadly heatwave.

The 78 howler monkeys died after temperatures in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas reached over 42C.

The killer heatwave is devastating populations of birds and other animals in Mexico that have been literally dropping dead in the states of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi.

Rescuers from the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Usumacinta AC (COBIUS) said they had found dead monkey mums still clutching their babies.

In those locations, it was hotter, with temperatures rising to 54 degrees Celsius.

Birds, including the country’s vividly green lilac-crowned Amazon parrots, are being found dead from dehydration in huge numbers where they fall from the skies mid-flight.

Shocking video footage at one of the locations shows the forest floor littered with their corpses where they seem to have dropped dead out of the trees.

Locals have asked government officials to declare the heatwave a national emergency.

One rescuer in video footage was heard saying: ‘The drought is serious, it does not forgive.’

One touching photograph showed a baby monkey being helped by rescuers in Ayapa in Tabasco.

Locals said that they saw that six females and one male had died.

The new images come after photos and videos emerged earlier this month of birds and other animals dead as a result of the searing temperatures.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.