A rare Golden Langur has been born in captivity for the first time in Vietnam, increasing by one the population of arguably the most-endangered monkey on earth, environmentalists said on Friday.
However, the newborn male could be the last of its kind if the species’ tiny island habitat is developed for tourism and poaching continues, they warned.
The birth on July 2 was momentous for the yellow tuft-headed monkey — also known as the Cat Ba Langur, for the island that is its home — because there are only about 60 left in the wild, according to
Tilo Nadler, director of the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in
central Vietnam.
”It is the rarest primate species on earth,” Nadler said. ”We have only one couple in captivity and this is the first birth in captivity.”
The mother was rescued from poachers when she was three months old and brought to the rescue center in Cuc Phuong, 250km south of Hanoi. She had to be prompted to care for the infant because she did not learn from other monkeys in the wild.
”He’s climbing around already,” Nadler said of the new arrival, which has not yet been given a name.
While the captive birth is a breakthrough, environmentalists say it will not save the Cat Ba Langur from extinction if hunting of the animals is not stopped.
The monkeys’ only known habitat, Cat Ba Island in Vietnam’s stunning Halong Bay, has been targeted for tourist development that could isolate the remaining monkeys from each other and keep them from breeding.
”If they are divided any more, they are doomed for extinction,” said Frank Momberg of the environmental group Fauna and Flora International. ”If you don’t stop the destruction of the habitat and the hunting as soon as possible, one birth won’t make a difference.”
Cat Ba Island was recently named an international biosphere reserve by the United Nation’s Educational and Scientific Organisation, a designation Momberg’s group helped Vietnam apply for.
He hopes the new status may encourage the government to back off on development plans.
Hunting also threatens the species. Although public education has slowed the killing, the $1000 hunters can get for a carcass from the traditional medicine black market makes poaching a constant danger, Momberg said.
Vietnam is a world hot spot for endangered monkeys — five of the world’s 25 most endangered primates live in the country, according to the environmental group Conservation International. – Sapa-dpa