Abstract
We studied the status and distribution of the diurnal primates in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park (PNKB NP) from April to August 2007. In the past, researchers reported 9 primate species and subspecies for the karst forests of PNKB NP, which constitutes the most important protected area for the endangered Hatinh langur (Trachypithecus hatinhensis) in Vietnam. All 9 primate taxa are threatened due to hunting pressure and habitat loss. We applied line transect sampling in 4 areas. During a total of 117 transect inspections along 12 different transect routes, we confirmed 5 primate taxa and the analysis of population densities resulted in 2143 (±467) Hatinh langurs, 1316 (±871) red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus), 930 (±489) stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides), 986 (±883) eastern Assamese macaques (M. a. assamensis), and 18 (±18) southern white-cheeked crested gibbons (Nomascus siki) in the whole PNKB NP, which covers an area of ca. 85,000 ha. We could not detect the 2 nocturnal lorises, Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) and pygmy slow lorises (N. pygmaeus), as well as rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and northern pig-tail macaques (M. leonina). The distribution of the primates predominantly depended on human impact. We could not recognize a correlation between habitat constitution and abundance of primates. The population density estimates showed a much higher density of the Hatinh langur than previously assumed. Thus the importance of the PNKB NP for the conservation of this endangered langur increased significantly.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the People's Committee of Quang Binh, the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park directorate and Science Research Centre, and the Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, Hanoi, for their cooperation and issuance of the necessary permits. For financial support we thank the Cologne Zoo and the Frankfurt Zoological Society. We also thank the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park directorate for providing literature. Special thanks go to Nguyen Hoang Dung, assistant of the Cologne Zoo Nature Conservation Project Vietnam/Frankfurt Zoological Society, for translation, supporting cooperation with local people, and for his constant helpful advice. We also thank all staffs of the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park joining our surveys for their field assistance and cooperation. Professor Dr. Herbert H. Covert, University of Colorado kindly commented on a previous version of the manuscript, and we thank him for his careful revision and helpful suggestions. Last but not least, T. Haus thanks Professor Dr. Wolfgang Böhme of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, for supervising her diploma thesis at Bonn University.
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Haus, T., Vogt, M., Forster, B. et al. Distribution and Population Densities of Diurnal Primates in the Karst Forests of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province, Central Vietnam. Int J Primatol 30, 301–312 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-009-9343-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-009-9343-4