White-headed Langur are found only in Vietnam China. They live predominantly in the humid limestone (Karst) forests. These forests are considered a rainforest biome. Langurs prefer altitudes of 70-100 meters above sea level.
The White-headed Langur diet consists mainly of leaves, bamboo shoots, flowers, bark, and fruit. There unusual characteristics is a pointed, white crown that changes colors four months after they are born. Infants are known for their golden fur. It takes 4 to 6 years to fully "mature". They typically will live in groups of 5-9, with one dominant male and several females.
Very little is known about the reproductive biology of the White-headed Langur. Female langurs all mate with one male, the result of this is inbreeding. There are more females than males, creating a species now unable to reproduce effectively. The Golden-headed langur gives birth to a single offspring. The average lifespan of the langur is approximately 25 years.
They are prey to wildcats, wild dogs, snakes, and crocodiles. Therefore, if there species where to go extinct it would effect all the animals that prey on them. They are nomadic creatures, so they regularly move from cave to cave when resources start to run out, or when predators and humans get closer. Otherwise, these animals sleep throughout the day, spending 2-3 days in one place and then moving on. They communicate only using signals.
They are dangerously close to extinction due mainly to hunting. Poaching for traditional medicine is the sole cause for the dramatic and rapid population decline from an estimated 2,400 - 2,700 in the 1960s to only 50 - 70 individuals. The caves they would use for protection became hunting grounds for humans to capture and kill langurs as they slept. Cat Ba Langurs were used to make "monkey balm" believed to help with erectile dysfunction and other health issues.
In November 2000, Munster Zoo and ZSCSP, the Zoological Society for Conservation Species and Populations, started the Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project. The Cat Ba Langurs distribution range was declared a National Park in 1986, however that did not stop the poaching and decline of the population. About %30 of the population is located outside of the National Park until 2006. In 2006 Cat Ba National Park was expanded to include the entire Cat Ba Langur population and Special Protection Zones were established to provide the most stringent protection available under Vietnamese law. There is a strictly protected sanctuary, a peninsula on the eastern coast of Cat Ba Island, in the National Park and supports about %40 of the population. Fixed boundaries were set with blocking buoys and prohibition signs. Another step taken was to increase the number of rangers in the area. Local citizens, especially fisherman, were informed and rangers were given permission to remove people and take away any poaching equipment they found.
At the end of 2001, there was no more hunting of the Cat Ba Langur. Since the beginning of the conservation efforts, nine langurs have been born and only three have died of natural causes. The greatest populations of the Cat Ba Langurs are expected to recover with the appropriate conservation of the limestone habitats.
Cat Ba Island is in the process of creating a booming tourist industry. They are currently in the process of building luxury hotels around the island, with one hotel being 17 stories tall. To accommodate all the new tourism, the town of Cat Ba is building a new road that will connect the town to a small village on the northern edge of the island where a ferry will be to take tourists to another popular destination: Ha Long Bay. The road runs along a border of the park which may attract more hunters to the area.
5 Ways to help
1. Take legal action against anyone who produces "Monkey Balm"
2. Spread awareness of the poaching and why they are doing it.
3. Allow Rangers to take more drastic action against poachers if absolutely necessary and implement heavy fines.
4. By visiting you can help protect the White-headed Langur as most people don't know that they are one of the most endangered species in china.
5. Spend a day and visit the Hua Shan Cliff Paintings, over night in NingMing and early morning hire a boat up stream to Hua Shan Cliff Paintings.
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