Grey-Shanked Douc Pygathrix cinerea Nadler, 1997 Vietnam (2000, 2002, 2004) Only described in 1997, the grey-shanked douc numbers barely seven hundred individuals, all of them threatened by hunting and deforestation in the mountains of central Vietnam.

Colobine monkeys of the genus Pygathrix are native to Southeast Asia. Until only a few years ago, just two distinct taxa were recognized: the red-shanked douc, Pygathrix nemaeus, named by Linnaeus in 1771, in the northern part of Central Vietnam; and the black-shanked douc, P. nigripes, from South Vietnam and east Cambodia, described exactly a century later by Milne-Edwards. From August 1995 through January 1998, however, six male specimens of a new and distinctive Pygathrix were confiscated by Vietnamese forest protection authorities and placed at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center at Cuc Phuong National Park. The animals had evidently originated in Central Vietnam. The grey-shanked douc appears to be restricted to mountainous regions of Vietnam's Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Binh Dinh provinces, where it is threatened throughout by hunting and habitat loss. Hunting is with guns as well as baited traps. Forest loss within at least part of its range is attributable to the expansion of fruit tree plantations, illegal logging and firewood collection. Surveys and research on this recently discovered primate were conducted by the Frankfurt Zoological Society, led by Tilo Nadler, manager of the Vietnam Primate Conservation program of Frankfurt Zoological Society and director of the Endangered Primate Rescue Center at Cuc Phuong National Park. The continuation of this work should provide recommendations for the establishment of special "Species Protection Areas," with links between protected areas. Most of the grey-shanked doucs occur in two large areas in central Vietnam, each comprising four protected areas of differing status. The population is highly fragmented and estimated at 600-700 individuals. William R. Konstant and Tilo Nadler

References Ha Thang Long. 2000. Records of grey-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix cinerea) in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Report to Frankfurt Zoological Society, Hanoi. Ha Thang Long. 2004. Distribution and status of the grey-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix cinerea) in Vietnam. In: Conservation of Primates in Vietnam, T. Nadler, U. Streicher and Ha Thang Long (eds.), pp. 52-57. Frankfurt Zoological Society, Hanoi. Lippold, L. K. and Vu Ngoc Thanh. 2000. The grey-shanked douc langur: Survey results from Tien Phuoc, Quang Nam, Vietnam. Asian Primates 8: 3-6. Nadler, T., Momberg, F., Nguyen Xuan Dang and Lormee, N. 2003. Vietnam Primate Conservation Status Review 2002. Part 2: Leaf Monkeys, pp. 145-164. Fauna and Flora International and Frankfurt Zoological Society, Hanoi. Pham Nhat. 1993. The distribution and status of the douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) in Vietnam. Australian Primatology 8: 3-4. Suggested citation: Konstant, W. R. and Nadler, T. 2005. Grey-shanked Douc, Pygathrix cinerea Nadler, 1997. In: Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates 2004-2006, R. A. Mittermeier, C. Valladares-Pádua, A. B. Rylands, A. A. Eudey, T. M. Butynski, J. U. Ganzhorn, R. Kormos, J. M. Aguiar and S. Walker (eds.), p.29. Report to IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS) and Conservation International (CI), Washington, DC.