Golden Langur Trachypithecus geei

Golden Langur Trachypithecus geei

Endangered

Extant (resident)

Bhutan; India (Assam)

The regal, striking looking Golden Langur is also known by the common names Gee’s Golden Langur. They are the most endangered primate species in India and are considered to be sacred to many Himalayan peoples. They are classified as endangered from #palmoil, #meat and #timber #deforestation. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife

Appearance & Behaviour

They possess a striking black face and large expressive eyes framed by a shock of hair that can range from cream to golden to rust in colour. Hair on their chests and flanks is often a darker rust colour. Females and younger animals are lighter in colour from silvery white to light buff.

Golden Langurs are heavily dependent upon forests for their ongoing existence. They are diurnal, preferring to forage in the morning and afternoon with a midday siesta. They spend most of the time in tree canopies and rarely come down to the ground.

Social grooming and social interaction is important to Golden Langurs and they typically live in troops of between 8 to 50 individuals with several females to each adult male. Grooming is an important social activity and strengthens connection between group members.

Threats

According to IUCN Red List there are approximately 5,500 individual langurs left alive and less than 2,500 sexually mature individuals globally. They face numerous serious threats to their existence which has meant they are classified as Endangered.

IUCN RED LIST

Golden Langurs face a range of anthropogenic threats:

• Habitat destruction: for human settlement.
• Deforestation: for charcoal, timber, palm oil and livestock farming across their range.
• Predation by domestic dogs
• Collection for the pet trade: there is a high rate of juvenile mortality and inbreeding when golden langurs are collected as pets.
• Accidental death from power lines and roads
• Hunting

Habitat & geographical region

Golden Langurs are found in one small region in western Assam and in the foothills of Bhutan’s Black Mountains. These are confined to the tropical moist forest belt between the Manas River in the east, Sankosh in the west and Brahmaputra in the south along the Indo-Bhutan border. The populations are highly fragmented due to increasing human encroachment upon their range. The northern population is completely isolated from the southern population due to anthropogenic threats.

Diet

The Golden Langur is predominantly herbivorous and their diet consists of ripe and unripe fruits, leaves, buds and flowers.

Mating and breeding

More research is needed to understand the mating and reproduction of Golden Langurs. Their breeding can take place during any time of the year and mothers will give birth to a single baby after a six month pregnancy. Care of infants is a collective affair, with the mother and other females in the troop helping rear babies.

Support Golden Langurs by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

Das, J., Medhi, R. & Molur, S. 2008. Trachypithecus geei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T22037A9348940. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T22037A9348940.en. Accessed on 12 November 2022.

Gee’s Golden Langur Trachypithecus geei on Animalia.bio

Gee’s Golden Langur Trachypithecus geei on Wikipedia

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