Vietnamese Monkeys

Hi all,

I've been a bit slow in contributing to the blog, but better late than never right? I just arrived back in Vancouver last week after 8 weeks in Vietnam, so I'll give a recap now of what I was up to during my time there. I worked on two separate projects, both focusing on the critically endangered grey-shanked douc langur: first, a survey of a wild population in an unprotected forest, and second, a behavioural study of mother-infant relationships in captivity.

I arrived in Hanoi, the largest city in northern Vietnam, in early June. There I met with Eleanor, and we flew southwards to Hue, which is in the middle of the country. We split time over the next few days between Hue and a nearby town called Tam Ky, discussing the methods of our survey with WWF researchers and training members of the Forest Protection Department. We then traveled by car, boat, and foot into Que Phuoc forest, in Quang Nam province. So began our 8 day sojourn in the forest...

While in the forest, we would wake up at dawn, eat breakfast, conduct surveys, eat dinner at dusk, and be in bed shortly after the sun went down. The rangers made a make-shift camp out of logs and tarp, under which we strung our hammocks and stored our belongings. We also brought in 5 chicken friends and 2 ducks, all of whom were unceremoniously sacrificed in the evenings for our dinners! Eleanor, who is vegetarian, had to make do with some tofu-based meat-substitutes, which I reluctantly sampled and can now confirm are not a highlight of Vietnamese cuisine.

After the survey, I parted with Eleanor and took an overnight train back up to the northern region of the country. I arrived at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, located in Cuc Phuong National Park, early in the morning. The EPRC is home to 15 species and subspecies of Vietnamese primates, and is the only facility in the world that holds captive grey-shanked douc langurs. There I was introduced to the monkeys by Tilo Nadler, who runs the center, and three German volunteers--Denny, Sebastian, and Jonas. The center is located between the entrance gates to the park and the tiny village of Cuc Phuong. For the rest of my stay in Vietnam, I spent my mornings and early afternoons observing the grey-shanked doucs, while the late afternoons and evenings were dedicated to relaxing, eating, and exploring the adjacent areas with Jonas and Sebastian. There were also some heated and emotional World Cup soccer matches to be watched--often late at night, in front of a small outdoor TV at the park entrance gate, and relying on the back-up generator for electricity while the rest of the town slept in complete darkness.

I would be the first person in the center in the mornings, which was actually quite peaceful for the first hour or so (until the gibbons got impatient for breakfast and made a ruckus). Each morning I biked down a quiet, forest-covered lane as the sun began to rise, and was greeted by Tilo's 10 year old dog Henry at the center's gates. I then sat in front of the monkeys cages and observed them; Henry meanwhile lay down beside me and kept watch for the king cobra, which had been spotted in one of the monkey's cages shortly after I arrived at the EPRC.

I really enjoyed my time at the center, Not only did I make some new friends (human and monkey, and dog too), but I was able to simply appreciate the beauty of the animals. I guess it's biased for me to say this, but I think the douc langurs were the most intriguing animals at the center, and certainly the most visually striking. I was also a bit taken aback by the variation in their individual personalities. The unnamed one year-old female (left, above), for example, was a little trouble-maker, relentlessly pulling her mother's tail or grabbing at her face. She was a bit of a daddy's girl, and would cling to him and bury her face in his chest whenever she was startled or frightened. Two year-old Ben (left, below), meanwhile, was a bit more shy, but had a penchant for sucking his finger and gazing at me intently whenever I approached the cage. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to watch these monkeys, and the fact that they're critically endangered was not lost on me during my stay--it was, in fact, a constant thought in the back of my mind. While habitat loss is a contributing factor, I was told by several people who live in the area that poaching is the primary threat to the doucs. It's somewhat depressing to think about what's being done to them, and I found it difficult to reconcile my feelings with the counter-argument that local people need to eat. There was a group of local tourists, who, after walking through the center and learning about the monkeys, asked which ones would be available to eat at the park restaurant that evening. There were also, however, many people working hard to save Vietnam's endangered wildlife, and I was truly impressed by their sincerity and dedication.

After leaving the center, I then underwent the 48 hour, 3 stop-over trek back to North American soil. We won't go into the details of that... So I think that's it. I'll be returning to NYC in less than 2 weeks now, and can't wait to see you all again!

Nolan