Red-Shanked Douc Langur

• Scientific Name: Pygathrix Nemaeus
• Life Span: About 30 years
• Diet: The Douc Langur eat mainly leaves, fruits, seeds, and flowers. They eat 50 different plant species and they do not prey on animals. Douc Langurs are pot-bellied because their digestive system is adapted to eat large quantities of leaves. Their large stomach is divided into sacs, containing bacteria which breaksdown cellulose through fermentation. They burp because of the gas!! :-0
• Habitat: Douc Langurs are only found in forests. They can be found in: monsoon, deciduous, lowland to montane up to 2,000m. They inhabit primary forests as well as secondary forests.
• Description: Female Douc Langurs have a grey back and alight grey belly. They have black hands, feet, upper legs, shoulders, and the brow. From their wrist to their elbow is white, their ruff is white and the males have a fluffier ruff. They have powder blue eyelids.Their face is a beautiful golden orange. They have a white tail with a trinagular tip. Males have a white spot on both sides of the corners of their rump, females do not have these. Males have white and red genitals!
  • Height: 61-86 centimeters
  • Tail: 56-76 centimeters long
  • Weight: males 7-10.9 killograms; females 5-8.2 killograms.
• Breeding: Doucs have been rarely observed in the wild and very little is known about their wild breeding habits.

• Population and Status: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED! During the Vietnam War millions of bombs were dropped in the Langur Douc's forest home and huge swathes were defoliated with chemicals like Agent Orange, wiping out many plants and animals. Doucs were also used for target practice by soldiers and hunted for meat by subsistence hunters. Nobody knows how many Doucs survived, but it seems likely that their numbers have been devastated over big areas. They were previously observed in groups of 60 or more, now groups are rarely larger than 12.