Meeting Abstract

P2.2  Jan. 5  Use of terrestrial substrates by captive and semi-wild Delacour’s (Trachypithecus delacouri) and Hatinh (Trachypithecus hatinhensis) langurs at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam WRIGHT, KA*; STEVENS, NJ; THANH, DT; COVERT, HH; NADLER, T; Kansas City Univ. of Med. & Biosciences, Kansas City, MO; Ohio Univ. College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, OH; Endangered Primate Rescue Center, Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam; Univ. of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO; Endangered Primate Rescue Center, Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam kwright@kcumb.edu

Vietnam is home to a unique diversity of primate species. Three of these primates are limestone langurs; the Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) and Delacour�s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri) are critically endangered and the Hantih langur (Trachypithecus hatinhensis) is threatened with extinction. Recent work by Stevens et al. (2006a and b) integrating kinematic and naturalistic behavioral data collection methodologies has uncovered variation between Delacour�s and Hatinh langurs in back and tail posture during quadrupedal locomotion, as well as variation in frequencies of locomotor behaviors. All three langurs are reported to be semi-terrestrial, but it is not known if there are differences in frequencies of use of terrestrial versus arboreal substrates. Here we compare frequencies of terrestrial and arboreal substrate use in captive and semi-wild Delacour�s and Hantih langurs at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam. Data were collected from May through July 2006. Our results indicate that the caged Hatinh langurs spend twice as much time on the ground (6%) as the caged Delacour�s langurs (3%). Terrestrial substrate use by the semi-wild Delacour�s and Hatinh langurs was rare. These results and their kinematic implications are discussed in light of what is known about the semi-terrestrial behavior of these three limestone langurs in the wild.