The following is a guest post featuring the work of a student enrolled in SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology. This exceptional work highlights the importance of primate conservation. I hope you find this piece informative and are inspired to make a positive change in the world that will help this and other endangered primates.
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| Golden Langur (Source: Animalia.bio) |
By:
Emma Nunamaker
As one of the many inhabitants of
this world, humans have a responsibility to coexist with the flora and fauna.
Yet we pose some of the biggest threats to their existence. Primates face
threats of habitat loss, fragmentation, deforestation, poaching, and numerous
other challenges. The golden langur is only one of the endangered primate
species that are fighting for their next generation, and by learning about
their unique struggles, we take a step further in making the world safer for
all primates.
The golden langur is a primate with
bright yellow fur that inhabits the patches of forest native to India and Bhutan.
Arboreal, and with a main diet of leaves, fruits, and plant life, these
creatures make homes in evergreen forest canopies. Their elevated habitat also
protects them from predators. Golden langurs are known to have highly diverse
social groups with unique mixes of males and females, and occasionally an
all-male troop or a solitary male. Currently, they are distributed in
fragmented regions around the intersections of the Manas, Sankosh, and Brahmaputra
rivers (Schwitzer et al. 55-58). Their small distribution is no surprise—one of
the biggest threats to golden langurs is the shrinkage of their habitat. The
IUCN reports that this species has lost over 50% of its original habitat due to
human activity, officially classifying them as endangered (Schwitzer et al.
55-58). Many other factors have contributed to their decline. Wildlife
biologist Phuntsho Thinley and his colleagues performed a thorough risk
assessment and identified some of these anthropogenic factors among 107
incidents, which are as follows: “50 (46.7%) electrocutions, 30 (28%) road
kills, 15 (14%) dog kills, six (5.6%) retaliatory killings, four (3.7%) road
injuries, and two cases (1.9%) of pet keeping from June 2012–June 2019”
(Thinley et al. 257–266). These percentages are small, but relative to the
steady decline of golden langurs in the past few decades.
Sanctuaries exist for the golden
langur and other endangered species in India and Bhutan. In Bhutan, national
parks like Royal Manas National Park are protected areas for the golden langur.
The only such area in India is The Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary, which houses
the largest and safest population of golden langurs in India, numbering 500 and
counting (Dilip et al. 81–86). A study done by Dilip Chery and other
researchers details how even with the growing strength of the golden langur
troops in the sanctuary, the density of the population poses concerns of
overcrowding. Another issue, too, is how to connect the fragments of habitat
where they reside. The researchers suggest that forest corridors can be built
of bamboo to connect these primates to other patches of suitable habitat and
allow for healthy dispersal and room to grow (Dilip et al. 81–86). Even in
these protected areas, lethal dog attacks still occur on the perimeters due to
the several human villages that surround the sanctuary. In the book Explorations:
An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology, researchers speak on a community-based
conservation effort, where communities are encouraged to educate themselves on
the endangered species around them and the accidental harm their practices may
perpetrate (Shook, Beth, et al. 665-694). This system may benefit the villages
around Chakrishila Wildlife Sanctuary and help decrease the amount of domestic
dog attacks on golden langurs. While these are only proposals, the value of
these surveys and observations cannot be understated. Impactful decisions
cannot be made without accurate statistics and authentic research, and like all
other primates, the golden langur species depend on this essential first step.
The reasons behind primate
conservation efforts are complex and motivating. Their positive impact on
ecosystems, culture, and evolutionary study across the world is poignant. In an
environmental sense, primates often act as pollinators. Golden langurs
stimulate the ecosystem by eating fruit and dispersing the seeds into soil for
further vegetative growth. (Shook, Beth, et al. 665-694). Like many primates,
they are one integral part of a delicate ecosystem, and even more so, these
primates are marks of our ancestry that we are still trying to understand. Primates’
innate human-like behaviors are reflections of our own, and to lose these
unique species means to lose a part of our history.
Fostering the idea that primates
are not just animals, but rather partners in maintaining this planet we share,
could shed light on the dire threats they are facing as well as the valiant
efforts made by researchers, conservationists, and others throughout the world.
To coexist means to respect one another; to respect one another is to make
continuous, diligent effort towards making this planet a safe place for all
species to thrive.
Works Cited
Chetry, Dilip, et al. “Status and
Conservation of Golden Langur in Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, India.”
Primate Conservation, vol. 25, no. 1, Dec. 2010, pp. 81–86,
https://doi.org/10.1896/052.025.0112.
Schwitzer, Christoph, et al. Primates
in Peril. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group/International Primatological
Society/Conservation International/Bristol Zoological Society, 2016, pp. 55-58
Shook, Beth, et al. Explorations:
An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology. 2nd ed., Arlington, Va:
American Anthropological Association, 2019, pp. 665-694.
Thinley, Phuntsho, et al.
“Conservation Threats to the Endangered Golden Langur (Trachypithecus Geei,
Khajuria 1956) in Bhutan.” Primates, vol. 61, no. 2, 5 Dec. 2019, pp.
257–266, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-019-00777-2.
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