India, Sept. 26 -- Kasturi Das
The capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus), a leaf-eating primate with a distinctive 'cap-like' hairstyle, is the second most commonly seen primate in Assam after the rhesus macaque. Once thriving in the tropical rainforests of the Upper Brahmaputra Valley, the only colobine primate (characterised by its leaf-based diet) in the region is now in a precarious situation.
The Valley was once covered by a vast lowland tropical rainforest. However, over the years, agricultural expansion, deforestation, and the development of tea gardens have turned this forest into scattered fragments. These patches with settlements and fields are now the last refuge for primates like the capped langur.
A new study published in...