Challenges in the conservation of Cat Ba langur

Cat Ba langur is a rare primate species, listed in the Red Book of Vietnam and the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They have the highest risk of extinction in the world. Currently, there are only more than 60 individuals living in the Cat Ba archipelago (Hai Phong).

In recent years, the situation of langurs fighting each other, separating and joining another herd, and killing young children has happened a lot. There is an opinion that it is partly due to the influence of massive tourism development and the impact of humans on nature.

As for the fighting behavior of langurs, this is a natural behavior, especially severe in wildlife populations where males are dominant over females.

Males no longer have space to move to another place to form a new herd or there are no female langurs to mate. Fighting in herds for offspring is also a behavior in its development and it will happen.

This influence cannot be distinguished from overcrowded tourism or natural behavior with the naked eye, leading to difficulty in developing langur herds.

Identifying nature conservation, and conservation of rare Cat Ba langur species is the key to sustainable tourism development for this archipelago, recently, many agencies and units have focused on protecting the species and habitat of langurs.

In addition, the authorities also strengthen supervision of the number of langurs, enforcement of the Law, research and education on the environment, and providing periodic training courses for the management team. This is so that individuals and organizations understand the status quo and can contribute to conservation efforts.

Recently, along with the development of tourism, the appearance of more and more people makes the langur herd constantly change, separate and reunite, even fight each other... This happens especially in areas where many tourism and human activities affect nature.

Mr. Neahga Leonar is someone who has been involved in the conservation of the rare Cat Ba langur species for decades. Talking with Vietnam Agriculture News, Mr. Neahga Leonard – The director of the Cat Ba langur conservation project, said that the conservation of nature in Cat Ba National Park in the past time is "not very effective".

The exploitation of medicinal herbs and the fishing of wild animals still exist. The illegal exploitation of other natural resource species, through a zigzag system, will impact the conservation of the Cat Ba langur herd.

In addition, there are many illegal activities in Cat Ba National Park. However, the two agencies responsible for protecting natural resources here, Cat Ba National Park and Cat Hai Forest Protection Department, have inadequate resources, which poses great challenges in completing their tasks.

“It can be affirmed that since there are bustling tourism activities in areas where langur herds live, the separation and fighting in the herd has become more frequent. Some herds have abandoned their previous dens and have not returned. Those are the things that we can confirm”, Mr. Neahga Leonard emphasized.

Talking about the problem of environmental pollution in Cat Ba, Mr. Neahga Leonard frankly shared that this is not only a problem in Hai Phong, but also in Vietnam in general, and in some other regions in the world. Society only recognizes the pollution of plastic waste, styrofoam, ..., which is thrown into the environment by tourists outside the country. Many people do not realize that there is a very dangerous source of pollution for wildlife, which is noise pollution.

Particularly in Cat Ba, in recent years, there is often a very large tourist boat fleet with many kinds of loudspeakers, dance music, and other forms of noise generators... They are also sources of pollution for Cat Ba langur and all other animals that people don't realize.

Noise pollution in Cat Ba is increasing day by day, significantly affecting wildlife species. The level of danger is much greater than many other types of pollution to wildlife, especially Cat Ba langur.

Therefore, to conserve this rare langur, the most important solution to protect the Cat Ba langur herd is to keep them safe and away from human activities. Managers, law enforcement, residents, and tourists… have the common goal of protecting this rare langur.

Second, the Cat Ba langur needs a lot of living space, which is closely protected to be able to move between different living areas. So it is necessary to consolidate the population and bring the breeding populations to live close to each other. Currently, the two subpopulations of Cat Ba langur are breeding and living separately and far from each other.

To bring these two herds together is very complicated, including resources, techniques, and debate about ideas,... Assuming it is possible, we need to prepare for activities that may be dangerous for young langurs and female langurs. This is a great solution, but it is facing a lot of great challenges and complex problems.

Another solution is also possible, which is to catch male langurs and move them to a place called Dong Cong island. It is a peninsula still belonging to Cat Ba National Park, formerly there were also langurs living here.

“Cat Ba nature conservation is the key to sustainable tourism development for this archipelago. However, this is still only a temporary solution. It is unable to completely solve the imbalance between male and female langurs. It has to be self-resolving and needs to be balanced in a long-term and natural process", said Mr. Neahga Leonard.

More than 3,000 langurs were living in this archipelago in the 1960s. After 60 years, there are only more than 60 Cat Ba langurs left in the world - an endemic primate found nowhere else in this archipelago. Hunting has put this rare animal in danger of extinction.

The Cat Ba Langur conservation project started in November 2000 with the main aim of preventing the extinction of the Cat Ba Langur (Trachypithecus Poliocephalus). The research team focuses on species and their habitat protection, population monitoring, Law enforcement, environmental research, and education.