Golden langur primate is rare and elusive

Gee's Golden Langur can be found in India and Bhutan. Photo: Joel Sartore

This expressive, almost humanlike face belongs to a very rare primate found in India and Bhutan. It’s Gee’s Golden Langur, named for naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee, an Englishman living in India known as an influential wildlife conservationist in the 1950s and ‘60s. He discovered the langur species.

Very rare and highly secretive, not much is known about the endangered Gee’s golden langur. Unlike other species of langurs that appear unafraid of humans, researchers have said that this monkey works hard to avoid human interactions, making them extremely difficult to observe in the wild.

This monkey is known for its cream to golden fur, black face and long tail with a large whorl of hair on its crown.  Its uncanny gaze appears remarkably human, likely due to the light sclera in its eyes, a feature

seen in some great apes, including humans. The coat of the adult golden langur is often rust colored while the coats of the juveniles and females are lighter, silvery white to light buff. Their long whiskers protect their eyes from rain during monsoon season. They live in social groups of about eight individuals, with a ratio of several females to one adult male, and are active during day hours.

Gee's Golden Langur (Trachypithecus geei) is a herbivore, living in trees and feeding on leaves, fruits, and seeds. The species is highly threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation due to human development, leading to its endangered status. The population has declined by more than 30 percent in the last 30 years and is expected to decline further shortly.

Golden langurs are protected by law in their range. There are only four in captivity and can be seen at the Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden in Guwahati, India.

—  Info compiled by Google.com and Wikipedia

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