COP 11 biological diversity: Langur (Semnopithcus ajax) - little monkey living in the Himalayas redisovered 80 years after it was last seen

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Oct 15: A little monkey living in the Himalayas has been rediscovered 80 years after it was last seen, raising hopes of
conservation of this endangered primate.

Himalayan grey langur (Semnopithecus ajax) lives in the forests of Himachal Pradesh. Though there are records documenting this primate species, no one has actually seen it in the last eight decades. Its rediscovery is seen as a gift to science particularly when 25 other primate members are critically endangered.

The International Union For Conservation of Nature on Monday released a report on the world’s 25 most endangered primates, which includes nine species from Asia. Luckily, none of them is from India.

According to Sanjay Molur of Zoo Wild, the tradition of feeding of monkeys in India has made the primates aggressive and brought them in conflict with human beings. “When man feeds them, the monkeys think that man is inferior to them. The monkeys then ask for more food,” he added.