Rangers and residents of Tuy Hoa City in Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam have recently caught sight of three endangered gray-shanked douc langurs at a local temple.

Rangers of the Tuy Hoa department of forest protection saw one of the three douc langurs at Quang Son Temple on Friday morning.

The three gray-shanked douc langurs weigh about 7-20kg each, with white and black hair on the belly and back, and white mouth and cheeks, according to Nguyen Ly Nguyen, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Phu Yen.

They have stayed at the temple for about ten days, Nguyen said.

This supplied photo shows an endangered gray-shanked douc langur in Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province, Vietnam. Photo: Handout via Tuoi Tre

Le Van Thanh, a local resident, said the herd of langurs just moves on tree branches around the temple and is quite friendly.

The provincial agriculture department had sent a dispatch to the Tuy Hoa department of forest protection and the People’s Committee of Tuy Hoa City on Thursday to order protection for the endangered species.

According to the dispatch, the gray-shanked douc langurs in question are scientifically named Pygathrix cinerea, an endangered, precious and rare animal as specified by a government decree.

This supplied photo shows an endangered gray-shanked douc langur in Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province, Vietnam. Photo: Handout via Tuoi Tre

They are also included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of threatened species.

In the world, the gray-shanked douc langur is only found in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, according to Tran Huu Vy, director of nonprofit GreenViet, which is holding a survey for additional research on the distribution, number, and habitat of gray-shanked douc langur in the protection forests of Phu Yen’s Dong Xuan District. 

In Vietnam, it is estimated that there are only 2,200 - 2,500 gray-shanked douc langurs in the wild, distributed in Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai Provinces.

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