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772 Featured Specimen
Red-shanked douc

Details

Red-shanked douc

Pygathrix nemaeus

Size
1–1.3 m · 6–12 kg
Diet
Herbivore
Activity
Diurnal
Sociality
Social
Lifespan

A brilliantly colored langur of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Red legs, white forearms, a gray body, and a pale tail make it distinctive.

Range

Habitat range map
Native range Occasional / Transient
IndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayanIndomalayan

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Details

Habitat

Red-shanked doucs live in tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, limestone, and montane forests. Connected canopy is essential because they rarely descend.

Appearance

They combine gray body fur, reddish legs, white forearms, golden facial fur, and a white tail. The species is often called a colorful primate.

Behavior

They are diurnal and strongly arboreal, moving through branches in groups. Much of the day is spent quietly feeding in the canopy.

Feeding

Young and mature leaves dominate the diet, with fruit, flowers, and seeds added. A specialized stomach ferments fibrous leaf material.

Reproduction

Females give birth to single infants raised within the group. Young remain dependent and gradually learn canopy movement.

Notes

Forest loss, hunting, and wildlife trade have driven serious declines across much of the range.