Subject: Report on Golden Langur In-Reply-To: <01BDC127.9D8EAAE0@ti600cd-taej> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-To: Taej MundkurX-Cc: Natural History of South Asia - General discussion and research X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN Status: R In a presentation at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, C. Southwick, R.P.Mukherjee, A. Srivastava and P. Horvich brought to attention the critical status of the Golden Langur in India. The abstract of their presentation follows. Ghazala Shahabuddin Durham, NC, USA ________________________________________________________________________ Natural populations of the golden langur (Presbytis geei) occur in a relatively small area of Assam and southern Bhutan. A group has also been introduced to the Sepahijala Reserve Forest of Tripura east of Bangladesh. Two years of forest survey by two field teams in Assam located fewer than 100 groups of golden langurs, primarily in western Assam, between the borders of Bhutan and Meghalaya. All groups were found in disturbed forest patches except those in Manas National Park. Remaining forest areas around Manas are being deforested. The largest langur group contained only 20 individuals, and average group sizes were 8.8 in western Assam and 9.0 in central Assam. Of 325 individuals carefully identified, 16% were adult males, 59% adult females, 12% infants and 13% juveniles-an age structure indicating low reproduction and/or high mortality of young. These data indicate that the total population of golden langurs in India may be fewer than 1500 individuals. Small groups sizes, scattered and isolated distribution, few infants and juveniles, and rapid habitat losses are all causes for urgent conservation action. C.H. Southwick, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 USA R.P. Mukherjee, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, India A. Srivastava, Indo-US Primate Project, PO Box 152, Guwahati, Assam, India R. Horwich, Community Conservation Consultants, Rt 1, Box 96, Gays Mills, WI 54631 USA