ZooNooz Article - MARCH 2007

Looking after leaf-eaters

As a senior primate keeper at Taronga Zoo, I have the privilege of working with some incredible animals. Our gorillas, chimps and orangutans are all magnificent. And our smaller primates are just as fascinating. Two years ago, Taronga Zoo became home to a pair of Francois’ Langurs, leaf-eating monkeys native to Southern China and Northern Vietnam. As the name suggests they have a highly specialised diet and require some extra-special care. Prior to their arrival we had never looked after leaf-eating monkeys at Taronga, so we had a lot to learn.

Young Red-shanked Douc Langur

In northern Vietnam, is the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre, one of the most well regarded conservation centres in South-East Asia and home to a number ofendangered and vulnerable leaf- eating monkey species, including the Francois’ Langur. The staff here does a wonderful job rescuing and rehabilitating Vietnamese primates. Their expertise in the care of leaf- eating monkeys is second to none; no better place to visit to learn about these very special primates.

The rescue centre, a three-hour drive from Hanoi on the edge of Cuc Phuong National Park, was established in 1993 in response to the stark realisation that many of Vietnam’s primates are under serious threat of becoming endangered or even extinct in the very near future. This is mainly due to habitat destruction and hunting.

Thirteen years later and it now houses around 140 animals, mainly langurs and gibbons, and has a staff of 25 people, including 20 local Vietnamese keepers.

I worked alongside the keepers carrying out all the day-to-day duties. With so many leaf-eating monkeys to care for, it’s not surprising that a large part of the day is spent leaf cutting and bundling. This may sound simple, but providing langurs in captivity with the right types, amounts and quality of fresh leaf has been problematic for many zoos and primate centres around the world. The rescue centre seems to have solved the problem, and this was all of particular interest to me, as we are continually developing our langur diet at Taronga.

So with this in mind I joined the keepers on the daily leaf-cutting round. This was REALLY hard work. It was hot and sweaty and my machete skills were not quite up to scratch! Once cut, the lengths were tied in huge bundles onto the backs of motorbikes to take back to the centre. Here the rest of the keepers would be waiting, ready to make small bundles of the freshly cut leaves to feed to the monkeys. This required a lot more skill than I first thought. Tying a few small branches together with a piece of string seemed like something that should be fairly easy. However, it involved leaf selection for type and quality, then making sure it was the right amount, then the actual tying in a particular fashion. Considering we had to tie about 800 bundles a day, it was a massive job, and little wonder I suffered from some pretty nasty blisters and string burn the first week!

Emil

Another valuable experience was to help with the hand-raising of a tiny five-month-old Red-shanked Douc Langur named Emil. He had been born at the centre, but his mother had been unable to feed him so the keepers had intervened. He was on five bottle- feeds daily and also needed regular weighing and socialising with other monkeys. This meant taking him into the “baby group” – a crèche of young (and very cheeky) monkeys that had been hand-reared or rehabilitated. I endured a lot of hair pulling and leap- frogging off my back while those little ones were getting to know me.

I was also fortunate enough to see some wild langurs. About an hour away from Cuc Phuong is the Van Long nature reserve, home to one of the last surviving populations of Delacours’ Langurs. These monkeys live on steep limestone escarpments and to see them you need to canoe around the bay searching. I went out twice. The first time we were unlucky, although the boat ride and the scenery alone were so remarkable it was worth it. The second time, however, we came across a group of seven monkeys, including a tiny newborn. There really is nothing more thrilling than watching endangered wild animals in their natural habitats.

Another highlight for me was getting to know some of the wonderful Vietnamese people, welcoming and good humoured – which was lucky for me as there was a strong language barrier. The keepers spoke very little English and I spoke even less Vietnamese.

My trip to Vietnam was extremely worthwhile, both professionally and personally. I got to work with some of the worlds most endangered and beautiful primates at the rescue centre. I gained a lot of valuable information and skills to bring back to the primate team at Taronga. And I got to spend time with some wonderful people in a beautiful corner of the world.

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