The five primates found dead two weeks ago in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa are black-shanked douc langurs, an endangered species.

These five dead animals confiscated on May 11 in Khanh Hoa Province’s Ninh Hoa District were confirmed as black-shanked douc langurs on Saturday by the Institute of Tropical Biology.

The Institute of Tropical Biology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology confirmed this Saturday after the dead animals were sent for examination by Khanh Hoa authorities.

On May 11, forest wardens in Khanh Hoa’s Ninh Hoa District staked out at a stretch of the National Highway 1A, acting on tip-offs from local residents.

They spotted a motorbike owner carrying a big bag and gave chase. The latter fled, leaving the bike and bag behind.

The wardens found five disemboweled animals weighing between six to 10.5 kilograms each.

The dead animals were then sent to the Institute of Tropical Biology for further examination.

The Khanh Hoa provincial police said they would launch criminal proceedings and hunt for the motorbike owner.

This is not the first time the black-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nigripes), known locally as vooc cha va chan den, have been found dead in Khanh Hoa since early this year.

On March 10, the police detained three men who had allegedly killed five black-shanked douc langurs in Cam Lam District.

Earlier, a patrol unit from the Hon Ba Natural Reserve had spotted the three men with the dead animals, weighing five to 15 kilograms, and two guns, according to the police.

The three men also admitted they had shot dead the endangered animals.

In January, two men were apprehended after killing two black-shanked douc langurs in the province’s Hon Heo peninsula.

The animals had also been gutted, the police said.

All the detained men are facing charges of “violating regulations on protecting endangered species”, according to the police.

Article 190 of Vietnamese Criminal Codes stipulate that those charged with illegally hunting and trading the endangered species will face jail terms ranging between two to seven years depending on the seriousness of the crimes.

In Vietnam, the black-shanked douc langur has been hunted mostly for meat and trade in traditional Chinese medicine.

Endangered species

The black-shanked douc langurs, together with their red-shanked and grey-shanked cousins, are found only in the Indochinese nations of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The black-shanked douc langurs are found only in eastern Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. It is unique among the doucs, having a largely greyish-blue face.

The species is listed on both local and international red lists of endangered animals.

A recent report by the Wildlife Conservation Society counted 42,000 black-shanked douc langurs in Cambodia’s Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area.

Prior to this discovery, the largest known populations were believed to be in Vietnam, where black-shanked douc langurs were estimated at 600.

The total population of the species remains unknown.

In Khanh Hoa, the Hon Heo peninsula is home to 100-150 black-shanked douc langurs. The second locality where the rare animals are believed to inhabit is the Hon Ba Natural Reserve, but their population strength is not known yet.

In July 2008, scientists from the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Ecological and Biological Resources recorded around 170 douc langurs living in 12 groups at the Son Tra Natural Reserve, a peninsula located 10 kilometers from the center of Da Nang City.

VietNamNet/TN/VNA