langurs at large

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About langurs at large

Langurs, or leaf monkeys, are to be found in north-eastern India and the Malay peninsula.

Measuring 16 to 27 inches in length and weighing 9 to 24 pounds, they have excellent stereoscopic vision and good hearing.

Their physical characteristics include opposable thumbs, big toes, calloused pads on their rumps, long tails, thin bodies, long, slender limbs, hands and feet, long gray, black or brown fur and, usually, black faces.

Living mostly in the middle and upper canopies of forests, they are active during the day and are both gregarious and very territorial.

They eat mainly leaves, but also fruit and flowers.

They tend to live mainly in single-male groups, in which one adult male lives with several adult females and their offspring. There are also multi-male groups, where several males (with some outranking others) live with females and their young, and also all-male groups, whose members are usually males that have been ostracized from single-male groups.

Langurs communicate with loud calls, often to keep troops separated from one another.

Females usually give birth every two years, with gestation lasting between six-and-a-half and seven months. They usually give birth to a single offspring, but will occasionally have twins.

Langurs live to be approximately 20 years old.

They groom one another to help reinforce the bonds between individuals.

Though langur troops usually travel slowly through forest canopies, stopping to feed for long periods of time, they are capable of moving quickly and noisily by running along branches and leaping to nearby trees.
When a langur group is confronted by an outsider, the dominant male will sometimes come forward and scold the intruder until the other troop members have fled.

While eating or passing feces, langurs often drop seeds on the forest floor, helping to repopulate the rain forest.

Though not presently threatened, langurs could become endangered if trade is not regulated.