Context

Neighbours of a golden langur habitat in western Assam’s Bongaigaon district have opposed a move by the State government to upgrade it to a wildlife sanctuary.

About

The Species

• Gee's golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of Western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan. 
• Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the golden langur was first brought to the attention of the western world by the naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee in the 1950s. 
• Adult males have a cream to golden coat with darker flanks while the females and juveniles are lighter. 
• It has a black face and a long tail up to 50 cm (19.69 in) in length. 
• It lives in high trees and has a herbivorous diet of ripe and unripe fruits, mature and young leaves, seeds, buds and flowers.
• The average group size is eight individuals, with a ratio of several females to each adult male. 
  

Background

• Kakoijana Reserve Forest is one of the better-known homes of the golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) found only in Assam and Bhutan and a Schedule-I species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. 
• It is listed as among the world’s 25 most endangered primates.
• The Assam Forest Department had in January issued a preliminary notification for converting the 19.85 sq. km. patch of forest into the Kakoijana Bamuni Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.