This is a red-shanked douc.
Native to Indochina, inhabiting the undisturbed evergreen, semi-evergreen, and limestone forests
of east-central Laos and northern and central Vietnam,
it is one of three species of douc langurs, the gray-shanked and black-shanked are the
other two.
The different species of douc langurs can be distinguished by the color of their legs,
or shanks.
Sometimes referred to as “the costumed ape,” the red-shanked douc langur is among the most
colorful of primates.
The monkey’s yellow-orange face and ears appear to be powdered with theatrical makeup,
and the eyelids appear to be dusted with a powder-blue eye shadow.
Dark, almond-shaped eyes view the world, and from a modest nose, tiny nostrils inhale the
fragrance of the forest habitat.
The garb of the red-shanked douc langur is strikingly stylish.
Jazzing up a black-speckled gray coat that covers the back, crown of head, and upper
arms is a chestnut-colored collar that separates the white neck from a black band that stretches
between the shoulders.
The monkey’s generous “pot belly” is a shimmery silver color.
Maroon-red fur on the lower legs leads one to think, imaginatively, that the primate
may have slipped into a pair of colorful stockings.
Red-shanked douc langurs are folivorous; that is, they are herbivores who specialize in
eating mostly leaves.
Young, tender leaves are their preference; however, they will also eat shoots, buds,
seeds, flowers, and unripened fruit.
They receive their water requirement through their diet.
Messy eaters, they frequently drop their food to the forest floor below.
And they routinely burp as their multichambered stomach uses bacteria to break down the cellulose
in the leaves that they eat through the biological process known as fermentation, thereby creating
“gassy monkeys.”
But what these colorful primates might lack in dining etiquette they make up in manners,
often sharing their meals with others in their group.
Active during daylight hours, red-shanked douc langurs (like all langurs) are diurnal.
They travel in groups and appear to enjoy one another’s company.
Come nightfall, they sleep in carefully selected large trees that provide a thick, protective
canopy.
Communication within these langurs includes touch, visual signals, and vocalizations.
Group grooming is an important tactile activity that establishes strong social bonds not only
between mothers and their infants, but between all members of a group.
The red-shanked douc langur is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red Lists of Threatened
Species.
In the last three generations, the species has experienced a decline of more than 50
percent, due to forest loss and hunting, and the grim prediction is that the population
will continue to decline—at perhaps a greater pace.
Humans present the greatest threat to this species, through hunting, habitat destruction,
and the illegal wildlife/pet trade.
The Vietnam War also had a detrimental impact on langur populations.
In addition to having their habitat extensively bombed and sprayed with the toxic defoliant
known as Agent Orange, soldiers used the monkeys for target practice.
The red-shanked douc langur is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species (CITES), an international agreement between governments
whose goal is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants
does not threaten their survival.
However, as is often the case with endangered species, laws created to protect them are
largely ignored and difficult to enforce.
And in Vietnam, conservation law enforcement is extremely weak—even though the country
has granted the red-shanked douc langur the highest protection status under its Wildlife
Protection Law.