Evaluation of Golden Langur

The living world is experiencing different scenarios of extinctions over geological time. The ongoing extinction process of limited species of animals and birds is more created by the human-made rather than natural phenomena. The Gee’s golden Langur has an old revolutionary history of the species. The documented history of Golden Langur evolution is quite short. In the history of primatology, the year 1953 is marked because of a naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee who discovered a beautiful species with orange colour coated fur which was named Golden Langur.

Gee’s Golden Langur

Gee Golden Langur or Trachypithecus geei is one of the most endangered primate species in India. It belongs to the old monkey family. During the 1950s, this Golden Langur was introduced to the long sacred Himalayan people by the naturalist E.P Gee. Two captive groups of golden langurs were freed into two conserved areas of the western region of Tripura, a state in India in 1988. One of these groups consisted probably of 6 to 8 Langurs that survived in the wildlife sanctuary. Presently they are very less in population all over India around 10,000 only. 

Geography

The Golden Langurs are found in small parts like Chirang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts of western Assam, India and are endemic to southern Bhutan. It is only found in the South Asian subcontinent; its biogeographical realm is Indomalaya. They are spread across the neighbouring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan and also distributed in the Tsirang, Sarpang, Zhemgang and Trongsa districts of Bhutan. 

The Golden Langur’s habitat is limited to 4 geographical areas- the foothills of Bhutan (North), Manas River (East), Sankosh River (West), and Brahmaputra River (South).

Physical Appearance

 These monkeys can be easily recognized by the colour of their fur due to which they are named ‘Golden Langur’. They have a significant black face and a very long tail. They have darker flanks and chest areas covered with darker hair often rust coloured. The fur coat colour ranges from cream to golden. The colour for young ones and females varies from silvery white to white buff. The fur colour changes as per the geographical areas and seasons they reside in. Thus, they are known as leaf monkeys.

Habits and Lifestyle

They are herbivorous and prefer foraging early in the morning and afternoon, resting during the heat of midday. They rarely come to the ground. They always live in a group of about 8 in number and a maximum of up to 50 with several adult males and females. Social grooming is found to be an important group activity for these primates in order to strengthen the bond between the members. They typically feed on ripe and unripe fruits, leaves, seeds, buds and flowers for survival.

Threats

It is found that there are many threats that pose danger to these Golden Langurs and resulted in their endangering. 

1. Habitat Fragmentation- For rural electrification and due to massive deforestation, the Golden Langurs in Assam have lost their habitat to fragmentation. Drastically, this points toward a steep decline in the trees and forests.
2. Limited Habitat- Natural boundaries are set restricting the habitat for these monkeys. The limited areas pose a threat to their extinction.
3. Inbreeding- The mating season of Golden langurs takes place any time of the year but due to the obstruction such as wires and gaps in the forest due to felling has posed threat to inbreeding among golden langurs.

Conservation Efforts

• The project for the conservation breeding of golden langur in Assam was initiated by the Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi in 2011.
• A drop of 62% in the population of golden langurs was recorded in Bhutan in 2019. The Bhutan government is trying to make important decisions on this decreasing population number.
• Conservation Status- They were considered endangered by the IUCN Red List, and listed as Appendix I on the CITES website as of 2003. This year the records were not modified due to covid -19 lockdown.

Protection Status-

1. IUCN List of Threatened Species: Endangered
2. Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
3. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix I

Conclusion–

We can conclude that the Golden langur is the topmost endangered primate species in the world. This species is only limited to an area in the western part of Assam, India and Bhutan. This is due to the several threats to the survival of Golden langur in the whole of its population. Human-made activities like electrocution, habitat fragmentation, diseases and vehicular accidents pose a major threat to them. 

The steep reduction in their population size needs to be given special attention in Bhutan. The Indian Government has initiated various steps to conserve this endangered species of Golden Langur. As long as the habitat is concerned the rejuvenation of the forest fragmentation, restoration of degraded habitats and India-Bhutan joint conservative programmes needs to be implemented.