Gee's golden langur

Gee's golden langur[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Trachypithecus
Species group: T. pileatus
Species: T. geei
Binomial name
Trachypithecus geei
(Khajuria, 1956)
Geographic range

Gee's golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), or simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of western Assam, India[3][4] and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan.[5][6] It is one of the most endangered primate species of India.[6] Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the Golden Langur was first brought to the attention of science by the naturalist E. P. Gee in the 1950s.[7]In a part of Bhutan, it has hybridised with the Capped Langur T. pileatus.[8]

Contents

Description

Golden langur is known for its rich golden to bright creamish hair, a black face and a very long tail measuring up to 50 centimetres (20 in) in length. For the most part, the langur is confined to high trees where its long tail serves as a balancer when it leaps across branches. During the rainy season it obtains water from dew and rain drenched leaves. Its diet is herbivorous, consisting of ripe and unripe fruits, mature and young leaves, seeds, buds and flowers.

Distribution

The regions of its distribution are very small; the main region is limited to an area approximately 60 miles square bounded on the south by the Brahmaputra river, on the east by the Manas river, on the west by the Sankosh river, all in Assam, India, and on the north by the Black Mountains of Bhutan. [6] These biogeographical barriers are believed to have led to the radiation of species from the closely related Capped Langur (Trachypithecus pileatus).[9] The best range maps so far are Choudhury (2002)[10] and Choudhury (2008)[11]

Gee's golden langur is currently endangered; a total Indian population in 2001 of 1,064 individuals, in 130 groups, was recorded. Of these, approximately 60% were adults indicating a relative lack of infants and juveniles.[6] The relative dearth of infants and juveniles indicate a declining population and with the habitat being degraded by human activity. A fragmented but protected population in a rubber plantation in Nayakgaon, Kokrajhar district of Assam increased in population from 38 individuals in 1997 to 52 in 2002. The population has also adapted to feeding on dry rubber seeds.[12]

The smallest golden langur troop was composed of four individuals, while the largest had 22, giving an average value of 8.2 individuals per troop.[6] The adult gender ratio was 2.3 females to every male, although the majority of groups had only one adult male.[6]

Behavior

It generally lives in troops of about 8 (but sometimes up to 50) with several females to each adult male.

Conservation

In 1988, two captive groups of golden langurs were released into two protected areas of the western region of the state of Tripura, India. As of 2000, one of these groups, consisting of six (and possibly eight) individuals in the Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, had survived.[13]

Taxonomy

There are believed to be two subspecies of this lutung:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 176. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100716. 
  2. ^ Das, J., Medhi, R. & Molur, S. (2008). Trachypithecus geei. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 January 2009.
  3. ^ Choudhury, A.U. (1988). Priority ratings for conservation of Indian primates. Oryx 22: 89-94.
  4. ^ Choudhury, A.U. (1988). Conservation in Manas Tiger Reserve. Tigerpaper 15(2): 23-27.
  5. ^ Choudhury, A.U. (1990). Primates in Bhutan. Oryx 24: 125.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Srivastava, A.; Biswas, J.; Das, J.; Bujarbarua, P. (2001), "Status and Distribution of Golden Langurs (Trachypithecus geei) in Assam, India", American Journal of Primatology 55 (1): 15–23, doi:10.1002/ajp.1035 
  7. ^ Gee, E. P. (1961). "The distribution and feeding habit of golden langur, Presbytis geei (Khajuria, 1956)". J. Bombay Nat. His. Soc 53: 252–254. 
  8. ^ Choudhury, A.U. (2008). Primates of Bhutan and observations of hybrid langurs. Primate Conservation 23: 65-73.
  9. ^ Wangchuk, Tashi; Inouye, David W.; Hare, Matthew P (2008). "The Emergence of an Endangered Species: Evolution and Phylogeny of the Trachypithecus geei of Bhutan". International Journal of Primatology 29 (3): 565–582. 
  10. ^ Choudhury, A.U. (2002). S.O.S. golden langur. The Rhino Found. NE India Newsletter 4:24-25.
  11. ^ Choudhury, A.U. (2008). Primates of Bhutan and observations of hybrid langurs. Primate Conservation 23: 65-73.
  12. ^ Rekha Medhi, Dilip Chetry, P. C. Bhattacharjee and B. N. Patiri (2004). "Status of Trachypithecus geei in a Rubber Plantation in Western Assam, India". International Journal of Primatology 25 (6): 1331–1337. 
  13. ^ Gupta A, Chivers DJ (2000). "Feeding ecology and conservation of golden langur Trachypithecus geei Khajuria in Tripura, Northeast India". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 97 (3): 349–362. 

External links