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Douc Langur

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Primate Kingdom
  • Quick facts
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Quick facts

Lifespan

Lifespan

Up to 30 years under human care

fruits

Diet

Mainly leaves, also unripe fruits, seeds and flowers.

Habitat

Habitat

Tropical rainforest and monsoon forest

range

Range

East-central Lao, north-central Vietnam, northern Cambodia

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Get to know our douc langurs

Costumed apes

Costumed apes

Douc (pronounced “dook”), is a Vietnamese word of ancient origin, thought to mean ‘monkey’. Though a bit of a misnomer as they are monkeys, not apes, douc langurs are popularly known as ‘costumed apes’ because of their extravagantly-coloured coats, bearing red, black, white, grey and gold highlights. Juveniles have a lighter body colouration than adults and a darker-coloured face. Their coat colour darkens as they grow older, as their face colour lightens.
Play face and other signals

Play face and other signals

Douc langurs are playful animals, juveniles more so than adults. You’d see jumping, running, climbing, hanging and swinging, while pulling, wrestling, mouthing, touching and chasing a partner: all in a day’s play. Like many other primates, doucs have a specific “play face" - mouth open and teeth partially showing. This may be used to initiate grooming or play. A stare with raised eyebrows is a threat and the other party often backs down with a submissive grimace.
Closely inspected

Closely inspected

Douc langurs are closely related to the proboscis monkeys and snub-nosed monkeys. Similarly, doucs have a leaf-rich diet as well as a multi-chambered stomach that helps them to break down leaf cellulose. They also eat flowers, unripe fruits and their seeds. Doucs are very particular when foraging for food - nothing is ingested without scrutiny. Ripe fruit is discarded, as are old leaves. Each morning, the keepers make their rounds to gather a variety of fresh leaves to ensure that our douc langurs get their best greens. Doucs don't drink water - they can derive the water they need from their food.

Together, we protect wildlife

Languishing in the wild

Languishing in the wild

The douc langurs’ habitat suffered intense disruption during the Vietnam war, in areas where defoliants were used. Their current decline is due to deforestation, hunting for food and use in traditional medicines. They have also been captured for use in medical research and are sold as exotic pets.

The IUCN Status

LC Least Concern
NT
VU
EN Endangered
CR
EW
EX Extinct
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.

LC

Least Concern

At relatively low risk of extinction

NT

Near Threatened

Likely to become vulnerable in the near future

VU

Vulnerable

At high risk of extinction in the wild

EN

Endangered

At very high risk of extinction in the wild

CR

Critically Endangered

At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

EW

Extinct in the Wild

Survives only in captivity

EX

Extinct

No surviving individuals in the wild or in captivity

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