Ajay Kumar at 13:34, 27 August 2023

2023-08-27T13:34:59Z

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{{Short description|Species of Old World monkey}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}

{{Speciesbox
| name = Gee's golden langur<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Groves|pages=176|id=12100716}}</ref>
| image = Golden langur.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| status = EN
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{Cite iucn | author = Das, J. | author2 = Medhi, R. | author3 = Molur, S. | name-list-style = amp | title = ''Trachypithecus geei'' | volume = 2008 | page = e.T22037A9348940 | date = 2008 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T22037A9348940.en }}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A1
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| genus = Trachypithecus
| species = geei
| authority = ([[H. Khajuria|Khajuria]], 1956)
| synonyms =
| synonyms_ref =
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision_ref = <ref name=msw3/>
| subdivision =
* ''Trachypithecus geei geei'' Khajuria, 1956
* ''Trachypithecus geei bhutanensis'' Wangchuk, 2003
| range_map = Trachypithecus geei distribution.svg
| range_map_caption = Gee's golden langur geographic range
}}
'''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 (Bhutan)|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 (color)|cream]] to [[gold (color)|golden]] coat with darker flanks while the females and juveniles are lighter. It has a black face and a long tail up to {{convert|50|cm|in|abbr=on|2}} in length. It lives in high trees and has a [[herbivory|herbivorous]] diet of fruits, leaves, seeds, buds and flowers. The average group size is eight individuals, with a ratio of several females to each adult male. It is one of the most endangered primate species of India and Bhutan.

== Discovery and etymology ==
The earliest record of the golden langur is in an 1838 paper by Robert Boileau Pemberton which states that "Griffith observed these monkeys near Tongso in Central Bhutan."{{Sfn|Pemberton|1838|p=}}{{Sfn|Khajuria|1978|p=}} However, since Pemberton's work was lost and not rediscovered until the 1970s, the scientific discovery of the golden langur unfolded differently. In 1907, [[Edward Oswald Shebbeare]]—who was out with some hunters and forest rangers—reported seeing a "cream coloured langur" in the vicinity of the Jamduar.{{Sfn|Gee|1961|p=}}{{#tag:ref|Jamduar was a village in the early 1900s, which is now a part of the town of [[Kokrajhar]]|group="nb"}} However, neither a photograph nor a live or dead specimen was presented at that time. The first reference to the golden langur in print, as an animal of unidentified taxonomic status, was in a 1919 publication that stated: "''[[Semnopithecus|Pithecus]]'' [[Biological type#Type species|sp]]? – A pale yellow coloured langur is common in the adjoining district of [[Goalpara]] (Assam). Jerdon reported one from [[Terai]], the adjacent district on the (west) side, which Blanford suggested might be [[northern plains gray langur|''P. entellus'']]."{{Sfn|Inglis|Travers|O'Donel|Shebbeare|1919|p=}}{{Sfn|Gee|1961|pp=1-4}}

In February 1947, in the Forest Rest House visitors' book in Raimona, a few miles south of Jamduar, C. G. Baron reported seeing some langurs whose "whole body and tail is one colour – a light silvery-gold, somewhat like the hair of a blonde." A year later, back in Jamduar, H. E. Tyndale, a tea planter, reported seeing "Sankosh cream langurs."{{Sfn|Gee|1961|pp=1-4}} However, it wasn't until a few years later that a focused effort to identify the golden langur was mounted by Gee, who traveled back to Jamduar in November 1953. His team were able to observe three groups of golden langurs, all on the east bank of the Sankosh river. The first group was observed on the Bhutan side of the border; the second group, a large one of 30 to 40 individuals, a mile north of Jamduar on the Indian side; and a third group four to five miles (6.44 km to 8.05 km) south near Raimona. Colour movies of the second group were made by Gee.{{Sfn|Gee|1961|pp=1-4}}

In August 1954, Gee reported his findings to an expert at the [[Zoological Society of London]], who advised that the golden langur might be a new species. In January 1955, Gee also reported his results to the [[Zoological Survey of India]] (ZSI) and, after showing his movies of the golden langurs, suggested that Jamduar be included in the then-upcoming ZSI-survey of that region.{{Sfn|Gee|1955|p=}} The suggestion received the support of Dr. [[Sunder Lal Hora]], then Director of ZSI, and later that year six specimens of the golden langur were collected by the survey party.{{Sfn|Gee|1961|pp=1-4}} The following year, Dr. H. Khajuria, a taxonomist who studied the specimens, described the new species naming it ''Presbystis geei'' in honour of Gee.{{Sfn|Khajuria|1956|p=}}{{#tag:ref|The new name, ''Presbystis geei'', came to be inadvertently included in Gee's 1955 short note which was published two months ''before'' Khajuria's 1956 paper proposing the name.{{Sfn|Gee|1961|p=}}|group="nb"}}

=== Taxonomy ===
There are two subspecies of this species:<ref name=msw3/>
* ''Trachypithecus geei geei'' Khajuria, 1956
* ''Trachypithecus geei bhutanensis'' Wangchuk, 2003{{Sfn|Wangchuk|Inouye|Hare|2003|p=}}

The subspecies are separated by a [[geological fault]] in the Himalayas called the [[Main Frontal Thrust]]. ''T. g. bhutanensis'' occurs in the northern part of the species range in Bhutan and ''T. g. geei'' is found in the south of Bhutan and in Assam in northern India.

In Bhutan, it has [[hybrid (biology)|hybridised]] with ''[[capped langur|T. pileatus]]'', the capped langur.{{Sfn|Choudhury|2008|p=}}{{Sfn|Ram|Kittur|Biswas|Nag|2016|p=}} This is believed to be due to the construction of permanent bridges across the Chamkar river, a tributary of the [[Mangde river]] which separates the two species.{{Sfn|Wangchuk|2005|p=4}}

== Physical description ==
[[File:Trachypithecus geei (Assam, 2006).jpg|thumb|Closeup of face]]
The coat of the adult golden langur ranges from cream to golden, on its flanks and chest the hairs are darker and often [[rust (color)|rust]] coloured while the coats of the juveniles and females are lighter, silvery white to light [[buff (color)|buff]].{{Sfn|Prater|1971|p=42}} The coat changes color seasonally, from white or cream coloured in the summer to dark golden or chestnut in the winter. Their long whiskers protect their eyes from rain during [[monsoon]].{{CN|date=April 2023}} The golden langur has a black face and large whorl of hair on its crown.{{Sfn|Khajuria|1956|p=}}

Gee's golden langur exhibits [[sexual dimorphism]]. Males are larger and more [[Robustness (morphology)|robust]] than females. Adult males weigh {{Convert|10.8|kg}} on average and adult females weigh {{Convert|9.5|kg}}.{{Sfn|Fleagle|1999}}
The length of the head and body ranges from {{Convert|50-75|cm}},{{Sfn|Gurung|Singh|1996|p=}} while the relatively long tail is {{convert|70-100|cm}} in length.{{Sfn|Wangchuk|Inouye|Hare|2003|p=}}{{Sfn|Gurung|Singh|1996|p=}}

== Distribution ==
Gee's golden langur is found in an area of approximately {{Convert|30000|km2}}, much of which is unsuitable habitat,{{Sfn|Srivastava|Biswas|Das|Bujarbarua|2001}} bounded on the south by the [[Brahmaputra River]], on the east by the [[Manas River]], on the west by the [[Sankosh River]], in [[Assam]], [[India]], and on the north by the [[Black Mountains (Bhutan)|Black Mountains]] of [[Bhutan]].{{Sfn|Srivastava|Biswas|Das|Bujarbarua|2001|p=15}} These biogeographical barriers are believed to have led to the radiation of species from the closely related capped langur (''Trachypithecus pileatus'').{{Sfn|Wangchuk|Inouye|Hare|2008|p=}} In 1988, two captive groups of Gee's golden langur were released into the wild in [[Tripura]] state in north-eastern India, an area outside of their natural range.{{Sfn|Gupta|Chivers|2000|p=}} One of the groups, released into [[Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary]], survives and has adapted to the wild.{{Sfn|Gupta|Mukherjee|1994|p=}}

== Behavior and ecology ==
For the most part, the [[Colobinae|langur]] is confined to high trees where its long tail serves as a balancer when it leaps across branches. During the rainy season it obtains water from dew and rain drenched [[leaf|leaves]]. Its diet is [[herbivorous]], consisting of ripe and unripe [[fruit]]s, mature and young leaves, seeds, buds and [[flower]]s.
It generally lives in troops of about 8, with a ratio of several females to each adult male. The smallest golden langur troop was composed of four individuals, while the largest had 22, giving an average value of 8.2 individuals per troop. The adult gender ratio was 2.3 females to every male, although the majority of groups had only one adult male.{{Sfn|Srivastava|Biswas|Das|Bujarbarua|2001|p=18}}

== Conservation ==
Gee's golden langur is currently [[endangered]] with a decreasing population trend; the total population of mature adults has been estimated as 6000–6500.<ref name="IUCNTgeei">{{cite iucn|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22037/17960997|title=Gee's golden langur}}</ref> It is one of the most endangered primate species of India and Bhutan.{{Sfn|Srivastava|Biswas|Das|Bujarbarua|2001|pp=15–23}} In India 93% of the population is found in forest reserves (Chirang, Manas and Ripu) and the western part of [[Manas National Park]], and the remaining occur in several small isolated fragments.{{Sfn|Ram|Kittur|Biswas|Nag|2016|p=}} The population has declined by more than 30% in the last 30 years, and is expected to decline further in the near future.
Golden langurs are protected by law in their range. The species is listed in Appendix I of [[CITES]],<ref name="CITESAppces">{{cite web|title=CITES Appendices I, II and III|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php |access-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119220312/https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php |archive-date=19 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> and in Schedule I of both, the [[Wildlife Protection Act, 1972]] of India,<ref name="WPA1972India">{{cite web|title=Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972)|author= Government of India (Ministry of Law) |url=http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/P-ACT/1972/The%20Wild%20Life%20(Protection)%20Act,%201972.pdf|access-date=8 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308232111/http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/P-ACT/1972/The%20Wild%20Life%20(Protection)%20Act,%201972.pdf|archive-date=8 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Forest and Nature Conservation Act of Bhutan, 1995]].<ref name="FNCAB1995Bhutan">{{cite web |url=http://www.asianlii.org/bt/legis/laws/fancaob1995409/|title=Forest and Nature Conservation Act of Bhutan 1995 |author=Government of Bhutan |year=1995 |publisher=www.asianlii.org |access-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905125035/http://www.asianlii.org/bt/legis/laws/fancaob1995409/ |archive-date=5 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Within India ===
On 5 June 2019, the district authorities of [[Bongaigaon district]] in [[Assam]] launched a project under the [[National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005|MGNREGA]] to plant guava, mango, blackberry and other fruit trees to ensure that the resident golden langurs of the [[Kakoijana reserved forest]] do not have to risk their lives to find food. Several golden langurs have died due to electrocution and in road accidents while looking for food beyond the reserve forests.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/golden-langur-to-get-fruits-of-mgnrega/article27699541.ece|title=Golden langur to get fruits of MGNREGA|author=Rahul Karmakar|newspaper=The Hindu|date=9 June 2019}}</ref>
In 1988, two captive groups of golden langurs were released into two protected areas of the western region of the state of [[Tripura]], India. As of 2000, one of these groups, consisting of six (and possibly eight) individuals in the Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, had survived.{{Sfn|Gupta|Chivers|2000|p=}}
The relative death of infants and juveniles indicate a declining population with the habitat being degraded by human activity. A fragmented but protected population in a rubber plantation in the Nayakgaon, Kokrajhar, district of Assam increased in population from 38 individuals in 1997 to 52 in 2002. The population has also adapted to feeding on dry rubber seeds.{{Sfn|Medhi|Chetry|Bhattacharjee|Patiri|2004|p=}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=nb|30em}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Literature cited ===
*{{Cite journal | last = Choudhury | first = A. U. | year = 1988a | title = Priority ratings for conservation of Indian primates | journal = Oryx | volume = 22 | issue = 2 | pages = 89–94 | doi=10.1017/S0030605300027551| doi-access = free }}
*{{Cite journal | last = Choudhury | first = A. U. | year = 1988b | title = Conservation in Manas Tiger Reserve | journal = Tigerpaper | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 23–27 }}
*{{Cite journal | last = Choudhury | first = A. U. | year = 1990 | title = Primates in Bhutan | journal = Oryx | volume = 24 | issue = 3 | page = 125 | doi=10.1017/S0030605300033834| doi-access = free }}
*{{Cite journal | last = Choudhury | first = A. U. | year = 2002 | title = S.O.S. Golden langur | journal = The Rhino Found. NE India Newsletter | volume = 4 | pages = 24–25 }}
*{{Cite journal | last = Choudhury | first = A. U. | year = 2008 | title = Primates of Bhutan and observations of hybrid langurs | journal = Primate Conservation | volume = 23 | pages = 65–73 | doi=10.1896/052.023.0107 | doi-access = free}}
*{{Cite book | last1 = Fleagle | first1 = J. G. | year = 1999 | title = Primate Adaptation and Evolution | publisher = Academic Press | isbn = 978-0-080-49213-1 | oclc = 40543995}}
*{{Cite journal | last = Gee | first = E. P. | title = A new species of langur in Assam | journal = Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume = 53 | issue = 2 | year = 1955 | pages = 252–254 }}
*{{Cite journal | last = Gee | first = E. P. | title = The distribution and feeding habit of the golden langur, ''Presbytis geei'' Gee (Khajuria, 1956) | journal = Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume = 58 | issue = 1 | year = 1961 | pages = 1–12 }}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Gupta | first1 = A. | last2 = Chivers | first2 = D. J. | title = Feeding ecology and conservation of golden langur ''Trachypithecus geei'' Khajuria in Tripura, Northeast India | journal = Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume = 97 | issue = 3 | year = 2000 | pages = 349–362 | url = https://archive.org/details/biostor-151640}}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Gupta | first1 = A. K. | last2 = Mukherjee | first2 = S. K. | title = A note on the release of golden langur (''Presbytis geei'', Khajuria) into the wild in Tripura, India | year = 1994 | journal = Indian Forester | volume = 120 | issue = 10 | pages = 915–919}}
*{{Cite book | editor1-last = Gurung | editor1-first = K. K. | editor2-last = Singh |editor2-first = R. | year = 1996 | title = Field Guide to the Mammals of the Indian Subcontinent | publisher = Academic Press | location = San Diego | isbn = 978-0123093509}}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Inglis | first1 = C. M. | last2 = Travers | first2 = W. L. | last3 = O'Donel | first3 = H. V. | last4 = Shebbeare | first4 = E. O. | title = A tentative list of the vertebrates of the Jalpaiguri District, Bengal | journal = Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | year = 1919 | pages = 819–825 }}
*{{Cite book | editor1-last = Israel | editor1-first = S. | editor2-last = Sinclair | editor2-first = T. | year = 2001 | title = Indian Wildlife | publisher = Discovery Channel and APA Publications | isbn = 978-981-234-555-4 }}
*{{Cite journal | last1=Khajuria | first1=H. | title=A new langur (Primates: Colobidae) from Goalpara District, Assam | journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History | volume=9 | issue= 98| year=1956 | pages=86–88 | doi=10.1080/00222935608655728}}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Khajuria | first1 = H. | doi = 10.1007/BF02373243 | title = The golden langur, ''Presbytis geei'' Khajuria: Its discovery, authorship, taxonomic status, and bibliography | journal = Primates | volume = 19 | pages = 237–324 | year = 1978 | s2cid = 24146936 }}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Medhi | first1 = R. | last2 = Chetry | first2 = D. | last3 = Bhattacharjee | first3 = P. C. | last4 = Patiri | first4 = B. N. | title = Status of ''Trachypithecus geei'' in a rubber plantation in Western Assam, India | doi = 10.1023/B:IJOP.0000043965.38722.63 | journal = International Journal of Primatology | volume = 25 | issue = 6 | pages = 1331 | year = 2004 | s2cid = 25843853 }}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Mukherjee | first1 = R. P. | last2 = Saha | first2 = S. S. | doi = 10.1007/BF01791670 | title = The golden langurs (''Presbytis geei'' Khajuria, 1956) of Assam | journal = Primates | volume = 15 | issue = 4 | pages = 327 | year = 1974 | s2cid = 42076853 }}
*{{Cite book | last1 = Pemberton | first1 = R. B. | year=1838 | title = Report on Bootan Indian Studies Past and Present | publisher = G. G. Huttman, Bengal Military Orphan Press | location = Calcutta }}
*{{Cite book | last1 = Prater | first1 = S. H. | author-link = Stanley Henry Prater | year = 1971 | title = The book of Indian Animals | publisher = Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press | location = Mumbai | pages = 324 | isbn = 978-0-19-562169-3 | url = https://archive.org/details/bookofindiananim0000prat}}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Ram | first1 = M. S. | last2 = Kittur | first2 = S. | last3 = Biswas | first3 = J. | last4 = Nag | first4 = S. | last5 = Shil | first5 = J. | last6 = Umapath | first6 = G. | year = 2016 | title = Genetic diversity and structure among isolated populations of the endangered Gee's golden langur in Assam, India | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 11 | issue = 8 | pages = e0161866 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0161866 | pmid = 27564405 | pmc = 5001631 | bibcode = 2016PLoSO..1161866R | doi-access = free}}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Srivastava | first1 = A. | last2 = Biswas | first2 = J. | last3 = Das | first3 = J. | last4 = Bujarbarua | first4 = P. | title = Status and distribution of golden langurs (''Trachypithecus geei'') in Assam, India | doi = 10.1002/ajp.1035 | journal = American Journal of Primatology | volume = 55 | issue = 1 | pages = 15–23 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11536313| s2cid = 21377476 }}
*{{Cite journal|last1=Srivastava |first1=Arun |title=Ecology and conservation of the golden langur, ''Trachypithecus geei'', in Assam, India |journal=Primate Conservation |volume=2006 |issue=21 |year=2006 |pages=163–170 |url=http://www.primate-sg.org/PDF/PC21.geei.pdf |doi=10.1896/0898-6207.21.1.163 |s2cid=55191171 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206225311/http://www.primate-sg.org/PDF/PC21.geei.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-06 }}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Wangchuk | first1 = T. | last2 = Inouye | first2 = D. W. | last3 = Hare | first3 = M. P. | doi = 10.1159/000070007 | title = A new subspecies of golden langur (''Trachypithecus geei'') from Bhutan | journal = Folia Primatologica | volume = 74 | issue = 2 | pages = 104–108 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12778923| s2cid = 46809693 }}
*{{Cite thesis|last1=Wangchuk |first1=T. |year=2005 |title=The evolution, phylogeography, and conservation of the golden langur (''Trachypithecus geei'') in Bhutan |type=Ph.D. |publisher=College Park, MD: Digital Repository of the University of Maryland. |pages=325 |url=https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/2403/umi-umd-2265.pdf }}
*{{Cite journal | last1 = Wangchuk | first1 = T. | last2 = Inouye | first2 = D. W. | last3 = Hare | first3 = M. P. | year = 2008 | title = The emergence of an endangered species: evolution and phylogeny of the ''Trachypithecus geei'' of Bhutan | journal = International Journal of Primatology | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 565–582 | doi=10.1007/s10764-008-9258-5| s2cid = 11717614 }}

== External links ==

*ARKive - [https://web.archive.org/web/20060509183738/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Trachypithecus_geei/ images and movies of the golden langur (''Trachypithecus geei'')]
* [http://members.tripod.com/uakari/trachypithecus_geei.html The Primata: Golden langur (''Trachypithecus geei'')]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101027110634/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Gee%27s_Golden_Langur Golden langur (''Trachypithecus geei'') video clips from the BBC archive]

{{C.Colobinae nav}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q284104}}

[[Category:Trachypithecus|Gee's golden langur]]
[[Category:Primates of South Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Bhutan]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Fauna of Assam]]
[[Category:Lower Assam]]
[[Category:Monkeys in India]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1956|Gee's golden langur]]
[[Category:Endangered fauna of Asia]]

Gee's golden langur - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 13:34, 27 August 2023