First Delacour's langur baby born at Ninh Binh's Trang An Complex

ABO/NDO – A Delacour’s langur baby has been born after its parents were released into the wild on Ngoc Island in Ninh Binh’s Trang An Landscape Complex last year.

The langur baby was born half a month ago, weighing around 300 grammes, and is now in good condition, according to the Trang An Landscape Complex Management Board. It is the first Delacour’s langur ever born in the complex.

Its parents were taken to the complex from the Cuc Phuong Endangered Primate Rescue Centre in the northern province about a year ago.

The Delacour’s langur newborn held by its mother on Ngoc Island Ninh Binh’s Trang An Landscape Complex. (Photo: baoninhbinh.org.vn).

The birth of the first Delacour’s langur baby is an encouraging signal for biodiversity conservation at the complex, said Tilo Nadler from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Primate Specialist Group. It would pave the way for the establishment of a new population of the species listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, he added.

The Trang An Landscape Complex Management Board said the 2-hectare island provides a suitable habitat for Delacour’s langurs.

The board will coordinate with wildlife conservation experts and animal rescue organisations to release more Delacour’s langurs to the island in a hope that more langur babies would be born in the coming time, it said.

The Delacour’s langur is a primate endemic to Vietnam, first discovered by Jean Théodore Delacour in 1930 and described by Wilfred Hudson Osgood in 1932. It is among the 25 most endangered species in the world.

Currently, it is found mainly in the Van Long Natural Reserve in Ninh Binh province, Kim Bang forest in Ha Nam province and Lac Thuy forest in Hoa Binh province.

(Source: NDO)