LANGURS, LEAF MONKEYS, LUTUNGS, AND SURILIS

The langur group, of the subfamily Colobinae, includes 5 genera, over 50 species and over 40 subspecies.

DOUC LANGURS

Genus: Pygathrix

3 Species

Photo credit: ©Hoang Minh Duc, PhD. Used with permission.

Pygathrix nigripes

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Found only in northeast Cambodia and southern Vietnam, the black-shanked douc langur is geographically restricted by the Mekong River. The Mondulkiri province in Cambodia boasts the largest population of these beautiful monkeys, around 42,000. They live in semi-evergreen deciduous forests and coastal dry forests…

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Pygathrix cinerea

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The gray-shanked douc langur is endemic to the Central Highlands forests of Vietnam and possibly to a small area of Cambodia. They reside mostly in dense evergreen rainforests in the lower parts of mountains, between 3,000 to 4,300 feet (900 to 1,300 m) above sea level. They can also live in degraded forests…

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Pygathrix nemaeus

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Of the three douc langur species—gray-shanked, black-shanked, and red-shanked—the red-shanked douc langur is the only one recorded in all three countries of Indochina: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. They live in evergreen, semi-evergreen, and limestone forests up to 5,200 feet (1600m) and spend most of their time in…

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GRAY LANGURS

Genus: Semnopithecus

8 Species

Semnopithecus hypoleucos

CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN

Black-footed gray langurs, also called dark-legged Malabar langurs and Malabar sacred langurs, are endemic to the Western Ghats, a mountain range on the southwestern coast of the Indian peninsula. They are found at altitudes ranging between 300 and 3,900 feet (100–1,200 m) in the patchy rainforests and…

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Semnopithecus ajax

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The Chamba Valley of Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous state of northwestern India situated in the Western Himalayas, is home to the Kashmir gray langur. Whether or not this leaf-eating monkey inhabits the region of Kashmir (one of the species’s namesakes) is uncertain. However, some wildlife biologists assert that Kashmir…

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Semnopithecus schistaceus

CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN

The Nepal gray langur, also called the central Himalayan langur, lives (as the name implies) in the Himalayan region, from central Nepal to Tibet, into areas of Bhutan, India, and Pakistan. They are the northernmost population of gray langurs, and they are one of only a few colobine species to live in temperate regions as…

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Semnopithecus johnii

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The Nilgiri Langur is a monkey of many names. It is also known as the black leaf monkey, hooded leaf monkey, Indian hooded leaf monkey, John’s langur, Nilgiri black langur, and the Nilgiri leaf monkey. Its common name is after the Nilgiri mountains, which is a part of the Western Ghats mountain range in southwestern…

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Semnopithecus entellus

CONSERVATION STATUS: LEAST CONCERN

The northern plains gray langur is one of eight species of gray langur and is also known as the Hanuman langur, Bengal langur, or sacred langur. They are found across a wide area of India, south of the Himalayas. Northern plains gray langurs are also found in Western Bangladesh, although this population is believed to have…

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Semnopithecus vetulus

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

Purple-faced langurs, also known as purple-faced leaf monkeys, are endemic to Sri Lanka. In Sinhala, one of the official languages of Sri Lanka, they are known as “the black monkey of Sri Lanka.” Located near the southern tip of India, the tropical island of Sri Lanka is teeming in biodiversity. This is thanks in part to its varying…

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Semnopithecus hector

CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED

The Tarai gray langur, also known as the Hanuman langur, lesser hill langur, and the Tarai sacred langur, is native to a small region in Bhutan, northern India, and Nepal, in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains and in the Siwalik Hills. They make their homes amongst the moist deciduous forests of the foothills and up into the oak…

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Semnopithecus priam

CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED

Tufted gray langurs are endemic to the forests of southern India and Sri Lanka. The Western Ghats are a unique region of mountainous forests on the west coast of south India. This ecoregion has a range of forest types from dry deciduous to tropical. Most of the Indian gray tufted langurs live in these forests and form large…

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LUTUNGS

Genus: Trachypithecus

20 Species

Trachypithecus pileatus

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The capped langur is found in Bhutan, northeast India, Bangladesh, western Myanmar, and possibly China. They live in subtropical and montane forests rich in vegetation and freshwater streams. The region is characterized by steady moderate temperature and heavy rainfall during the summer months. There are four capped…

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Trachypithecus poliocephalus

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The Cat Ba langur, also called the Cat Ba hooded black leaf monkey, golden-headed langur, and the Tonkin hooded black langur, is endemic to Cat Ba Island off the northeastern coast of Vietnam.  A species is “endemic” when it is native to a particular area and does not live naturally anywhere else in the world. Cat Ba…

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Photo courtesy of ©Nguyen Van Truong. Used with permission

Trachypithecus delacouri

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The Delacour’s langur is endemic to a small section of northern Vietnam just south of Hanoi. Their few remaining subpopulations mostly inhabit open subtropical rainforests, spending most of their time on limestone rocks and in caves. Delacour’s langurs are noted for the distinct white patches of fur over their thighs, which is…

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Trachypithecus obscurus

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

Tucked away in the forest canopies of Southeast Asia lives the dusky langur, also known as the dusky leaf monkey, spectacled langur, and spectacled leaf monkey or lutung. This highly adaptive species is spread throughout various areas across the Malay Peninsula. Located in the Andaman Sea of the Indian Ocean, their territory…

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Trachypithecus francoisi

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

​Francois’s langurs, also known as the Tonkin langur and the Tonkin leaf monkey, live in the forests that grow along the steep ledges of limestone mountains, known as karst, which are a signature of the landscape of northern Vietnam and southern China. Historically, their distribution spanned across Vietnam’s northeastern…

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Trachypithecus geei

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

Gee’s golden langurs, also known as golden leaf monkeys, or more simply as golden langurs, live in northeastern India and southern Bhutan. They are confined to this geographic region by the Manas and Sankosh rivers to the east and west, the Brahmaputra river in the south, and the Black Mountains to the north. Here…

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Trachypithecus hatinhensis

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The Hatinh langur is endemic to Vietnam—a Southeast Asian country about the same size as New Mexico—and to the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos. Although Hatinh langurs are not actually gibbons, locals often refer to them as long-tailed or black gibbons. These elusive creatures inhabit the dense Annamite…

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Trachypithecus germaini

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

Also known as Germain’s langur, the Indochinese silvered langur is found in Eastern Asia, west of the Mekong river. They are distributed across a large part of Cambodia, as well as parts of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. This species inhabits a range of forested habitats, including lowland, semi-evergreen and…

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Trachypithecus popa

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

A Popa langur lives in the high evergreen forests of Myanmar, particularly the sacred pilgrimage site of Mount Popa (an extinct volcano), which gives the langur its common and scientific names. The main populations are found in Popa Mountain Park and Panlaung-Pyadalin Cave Wildlife Sanctuary. While they are mostly found…

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Trachypithecus phayrei

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

Phayre’s leaf monkey, also known as Phayre’s langur, is an Old World monkey native to Southeast Asia. Its geographic distribution spans the countries of India (specifically, the northeastern states of Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam), Bangladesh, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), China, Lao PDR (Laos), Thailand, and…

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Trachypithecus cristatus

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The silvery lutung, also known as the silvered leaf monkey or the silvered langur, is found in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. They may occur on Batam in the Riau Archipelago as well. Silvery lutungs prefer dense forests; however, their habitat varies depending on the region they inhabit. In the Malayan Peninsula, they live in…

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Trachypithecus auratus

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

Spangled ebony langurs are Old World primates in the Colobine, or leaf-eating, family. They are endemic to isolated forest fragments of East Java, as well as the small islands of Bali, Lombok, Palau Sempu, and Nusa Barong. These volcanic islands are home to deciduous forests drenched by heavy downpours during the…

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Trachypithecus mauritius

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The West Javan ebony langur is a species of Old World monkey native to the island of Java, west of Jakarta. They are well at home in the lush forests of the island, occupying primary and secondary dry deciduous, mangrove, beach, freshwater, swamp, and hill forests. Until recently, West Javan ebony langurs were…

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Trachypithecus leucocephalus

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Home to the white-headed black langur, or more simply known as the white-headed langur is the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR) of southern China, bordering Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin. Demarcating the species’s narrow geographic range is the Zuojiang River in the north and northwest; the Mingjiang…

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PIG-TAILED LANGURS

Genus: Simias

1 Species

Photo courtesy of ©Wendy Erb. Used with permission.

Simias concolor

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Endemic to Indonesia, the pig-tailed snub-nosed langur (also known by its less-pejorative nickname, the simakobu monkey) is found only on the archipelago of Mentawai off the western coast of Sumatra. Interspersed through the islands of Siberut, Sipora, North Pagai, and South Pagai, and through a few offshore islets…

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SURILIS

Genus: Presbytis

20 Species

Presbytis melalophos

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

Black-crested Sumatran langurs (Presbytis melalophos), also called mitered leaf monkeys, yellow-handed mitered langurs, or Sumatran surilis, are tree-dwelling primates from southwestern Sumatra—Indonesia’s largest island. They can also be found on Pulau Pini, a small island in the Batu Archipelago off the northwestern…

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Photo credit: © mark_spence/iNaturalist/Creative Commons

Presbytis hosei

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The Hose’s langur is a small monkey endemic to subtropical and tropical dry forests of Borneo, the third-largest island in the world. The island is divided among three countries: Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Hose’s langurs are found in the biodiverse forests of Brunei, Sarawak and Saba (Malaysia), and Kalimantan…

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Presbytis comata

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The Javan surili, also known as the grizzled leaf monkey, Javan leaf monkey, or Javan grizzled langur, is native to the volcanic island of Java, one of four tropical islands that comprise Indonesia’s Greater Sunda Islands (the three others being Borneo, Sulawesi, and Sumatra). Found mostly in West Java, this leaf-eating…

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Presbytis rubicunda

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The Maroon leaf monkey is an arboreal primate that is found on the island of Borneo, as well as the smaller nearby island, Karimata. Within Borneo, they can be found in Danum Valley living at altitudes of 6,563 feet or less (2,000m). Borneo is an island that is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. Maroon leaf monkeys…

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Presbytis natunae

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

The Natuna Island surili, or Natuna leaf monkey, lives on the Bunguran Island of the Natuna archipelago, some 140 miles (225 km) north of Borneo in South East Asia. The whole island is about 656 square miles (1,700 square km), which is about half the size of Rhode Island, the smallest state in the US. Limited distributions, like…

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Photo courtesy of ©Andie Ang

Presbytis femoralis

CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

The Raffles’ banded langur is  native to the southern tip of the Malaysia and the island nation of Singapore. Their distribution and habitat are limited to small pockets of forests. In Singapore, they are mostly found in the Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Nature Reserves. While in Malaysia, they are only found in the states…

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Presbytis robinsoni

CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED

Robinson’s banded langurs naturally occur in the northern peninsula of Malaysia, South Myanmar, and Thailand. They live in tropical and subtropical forests but have adapted to secondary growth and agricultural plantations. Though there are no published estimates of their population, Robinson’s banded langurs are…

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Photo credit: ©mark spence/iNaturalist/Creative Commons

Presbytis siberu

CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED

The Siberut langur, also called the sombre-bellied Mentawai Island langur, is endemic to the island of Siberut, the northernmost of the Mentawai Islands off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Being endemic means that they are only found on that single island, and are not found naturally anywhere else in the world. They…

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Presbytis thomasi

CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE

Indicative of one of its aliases, Northern Sumatran leaf monkeys, Thomas’s leaf monkeys inhabit the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, residing in remote Aceh Province. The species’ range extends north of the Wampu and Simpangkiri Rivers and stretches to the southern bank of the Simpangkiri River. Home range is…

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Presbytis siamensis

CONSERVATION STATUS: NEAR THREATENED

White-thighed surilis, also known as pale-thighed langurs (a species of leaf monkey), are endemic to Southeast Asia. Isolated populations reside in the countries of Indonesia on the island of Sumatra and east of Sumatra on the granite islands of the Riau Archipelago within the Strait of Malacca; in the Peninsular Malaysia…

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