Some good news from China :
Endangered monkeys retrieve paradise in China's karst village - Global Times
Endangered monkeys retrieve paradise in China's karst village - Global Times
White-headed langur news
- Thread starter vogelcommando
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Interesting article, thanks for sharing.
The plight of the white-headed langur reminds me a lot of our own struggle in Brazil to conserve endangered primates trapped in fragments through planting habitat corridors to link isolated meta-populations.
What I find most encouraging about this story is that local communities seem to be genuinely concerned about the species and are being actively involved in efforts to conserve it (it really turns the stereotype that many people have of the Chinese being indifferent to biodiversity conservation on its head). I think that is definitely a key factor in conservation of any species.
I hope that this initiative in China bears fruit for the conservation of this langur.
The plight of the white-headed langur reminds me a lot of our own struggle in Brazil to conserve endangered primates trapped in fragments through planting habitat corridors to link isolated meta-populations.
What I find most encouraging about this story is that local communities seem to be genuinely concerned about the species and are being actively involved in efforts to conserve it (it really turns the stereotype that many people have of the Chinese being indifferent to biodiversity conservation on its head). I think that is definitely a key factor in conservation of any species.
I hope that this initiative in China bears fruit for the conservation of this langur.
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The conservation of white headed langur - unique to PR China - is something of a conservation success story. At a fraction of the cost of conservation funding for giant panda it has achieved a very impressive increase in the langur's numbers over time. Most if not all of the direct intervention work has been achieved locally with expert advice and support from the local scientific community.
BTW: Contrary what is mostly aired in the Western World, PR China folks are not as insensitive to wild animals or plants as commonly attributed to (probably the level of awareness and care is not dissimilar to "western" standards considering the latter's continued fixation on "economic growth").
BTW: Contrary what is mostly aired in the Western World, PR China folks are not as insensitive to wild animals or plants as commonly attributed to (probably the level of awareness and care is not dissimilar to "western" standards considering the latter's continued fixation on "economic growth").
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Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I would generally agree, however, I think that it is a bit early to consider it a conservation success story as these kind of interventions require literally decades to bear fruit.
For example, the work of NGOs like IPÊ and the Associação Mico Leão Dourado (which are probably the best conservation organizations in Brazil and work with the black lion tamarin and golden lion tamarin respectively) have achieved a lot of success and heavily involve community conservation and replanting of forests / agroforestry but are still working to save these species and the work is never done (never is anyway in conservation).
I also admire the cost-effectiveness and community participation of this Chinese initiative and find it very impressive and frankly really refreshing. I agree that this stands in direct contrast with the giant panda conservation funding / program (a bit of a personal bug bear / irritation of mine to be honest) and really puts it to shame.
Moreover, you are absolutely right that this story shows that a lot of sweeping attitudes and stereotypes held by Westerners towards China and its people's attitudes towards biodiversity conservation are erroneous. These views are often bigoted / do not capture how nuanced this situation is or acknowledge positive movements and stories within the country.
That said, I don't agree with your last comment on economic growth as I think both China and the West essentially have the same myopic fixation on economic growth and both generally view environmental problems as "externalities" to the detriment of the environment and biodiversity.
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Dear @OC, I was not about to bring into the discourse the official PR Chinese view on growth (for purposes not to create off course discussion), however I do believe that in the planning economy of PR China traditionally a bit more emphasis is put - even at the national level - on pride in and restoration practice in national and natural heritage here than we enjoy in our civilised societies. That said, the attitude towards exotic wildlife and consumptive patterns as yet remains much to be desired, even though this is equally a huge problem with the elder Chinese population and not so much the more astutely aware younger Chinese generations.
Other examples of national restoration programs are Przewalski gazelle, wild feral camel, the various snub-nosed monkey species, even some carnivores like Siberian tiger and Amur Leopard.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Yes, apart from the Chinese view on economic growth topic I do agree with you and I do generally think that this particular case is one of those stories in conservation which really should be shared more in the media / more widely known(precisely because of the bigots out there and what a different perspective this case gives).
There has been much research on the white headed langur.
This science paper dates back from 2008:
Karst Habitat Fragmentation and the Conservation of the White-Headed Langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in China
Progress is that nowadays they are talking about connectivity between individual groups and the added bonus is that all the research has stimulated locals into acting on behalf of the endangered primate living amongst their communities'.
Other examples of papers past and present:
1) Habitat Quality and Activity Budgets of White-Headed Langurs in Fusui, China
2) Food Choice of White-Headed Langurs in Fusui, China
3) How does the white-headed langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) adapt locomotor behavior to its unique limestone hill habitat? - PubMed
4) Habitat Quality and Range Use of White-Headed Langurs in Fusui, China
This science paper dates back from 2008:
Karst Habitat Fragmentation and the Conservation of the White-Headed Langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in China
Progress is that nowadays they are talking about connectivity between individual groups and the added bonus is that all the research has stimulated locals into acting on behalf of the endangered primate living amongst their communities'.
Other examples of papers past and present:
1) Habitat Quality and Activity Budgets of White-Headed Langurs in Fusui, China
2) Food Choice of White-Headed Langurs in Fusui, China
3) How does the white-headed langur (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) adapt locomotor behavior to its unique limestone hill habitat? - PubMed
4) Habitat Quality and Range Use of White-Headed Langurs in Fusui, China
I was trying to check back on captive white-headed langur in PR China zoos'. There should be a fair few too. Shanghai Zoo maintains the species, but there must be way more in others.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Interesting, I'm actually not familiar with this species so I will definitely check these papers out. Thank you for sharing them Kifaru ! much appreciated !
I think the most impressive take away from the story for me is just how strong the involvement of the local community appears to be. It is very encouraging indeed.
Oddly enough, I had this discourse in 2010 with esteemed fellow Zoochat forumster @baboon.
It seemed that around that time PR China only 2 zoos exhibited the species, namely Shanghai Zoo and Xiangjiang Wild Animal Park in Guangzhou. A specialised primate breeding centre in Wuzhou also maintained them (this and the Trachypithecus francoisi were their focal species).
Thread: African Manatees in China
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I'm going to check this out too, thank you for sharing!
Honestly I'm really very keen to expand my knowledge of primate species globally and there are definitely species which are just unknowns to me like the white headed langur.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
It is rather a lutung / langur than a snub nosed monkey but I think there are probably zoochatters with a lot of knowledge about what is going on with this genus in captivity in China (unfortunately I'm definitely not one of them though).
Understand but sine KB mentioned them I thought he may have updated numbers!
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Oh right, well I think that there is a good chance of that as Kifaru is pretty meticulous in his research on captive breeding programes around the world and very knowledgeable about these too.
Thank you. The white-headed langur is of special importance to us becasue it is the first primate species described and named by Chinese scientist: it is discovered by Tang Bangjie, the then Beijing Zoo director. And its conservation is in fact not succeeded until the end of 1990s, when Pan Wenshi from Peking University initiated a new conservation stragety which focused more on the improvement of local people's livelihood rather than pure scientific research and paper publication. They introduced new energu utilization methods such as biogas from cattle dung; they dug wells for villagers; they help developed local schools and help local government develop ecotourism. Then the locals began to support their work and be willing to coexist with this langur.
Hi, Kifaru Bwana, it is a pity that there are still only these two zoos have white-headed langurs. There is only one left in Shanghai Zoo, and the number of Chimelong is not known, since both of the two zoos have their white-headed langurs off-exhibit.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
No problem, it has been really interesting for me to read more about this species and its conservation in China.
It doesn't suprise me at all that the conservation of the species only began to improve after the implementation of programs to improve local peoples livelihood in a sustainable way. I think this is in most cases really the most effective way of conserving wildlife / biodiversity and I'm glad that it seems to be working out ok with the white-headed langur and these communities.
A question for you, you mentioned that the local government has developed a program of ecotourism for the white-headed langur but is this directed at domestic tourism within China or to attract International tourism with visitors from other countries ?
In fact when I went to Chongzuo in 2015 the natural park was closed, but the local researchers were glad to let us enter. Now it seems that they only allow domestic ecotourism groups to explore this area, and to be honest, the ecotourism there is still immature.