The Most Threatened Primates Of India: India's Most Threatened Part I

1. Gee's golden langur (Trachypithecus geei)
Status:Endangered

                                                                                                     By Yathin S Krishnappa (Own work) 

The Gee's golden langur is native to a small area in the Assam state of India and is also found in the Black Mountains of neighbouring Bhutan. The langur species is classified as Endangered by IUCN as only about a thousand individuals of this species survive today. The langurs are named so for the striking golden colour of their coat. These animals form troupes of 8 to 50 individuals and are herbivorous and arboreal in nature.

2. Hoolock gibbons (Hoolock spp.)
Status: Western Hoolock Gibbon: Endangered
            Eastern Hoolock Gibbon: Vulnerable

                                                                                                      By Programme HURO (Own work) 

The hoolock gibbons encompass two species of gibbons, the Western Hoolock Gibbon and the Eastern Hoolock Gibbon. Though both are found in some other South Asian countries, in India, the former is found in Assam and Mizoram and the latter is primarily found in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Some populations of Hoolock gibbons are also found in Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur. These gibbons are mainly arboreal in nature and feed on fruits, leaves and insects. The males of these gibbons possess a dark coloured fur while females have a buff coloured fur. The gibbons live for about 25 years in the wild.

3. Lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus)
Status: Endangered

                                                                                                  By Kalyanvarma (Own work) 

Only about 3000 to 3,500 individuals of this species remain in the world today. The lion-tailed macaques are endemic to the Western Ghats of India which means that these animals are found nowhere else in the world. The macaques have a black coat with silvery white mane and a black tuft of hair at the edge of their tail which appears like the tail of a lion. The macaques depend on a plant based diet of fruits, nuts, leaves, etc., and are arboreal in nature occupying the canopy layer in the rainforest. In the wild, these macaques survive for around 20 years.

Nilgiri langur (Trachypithecus johnii)
Status: Vulnerable

                                                                                N. A. Naseer / www.nilgirimarten.com / naseerart@gmail.com 

The Nilgiri langur occupies habitat in the Nilgiri Hills region of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. These langurs have a black coat and face with a golden brown coloured fur around the face. They are herbivorous and arboreal in nature and live in troops of around 10 monkeys.

Stump-tailed macaque (Macaca arctoides)
Status: Vulnerable

                                                                                        By (Photograph by Frans de Waal, used with permission.) 

The stump-tailed macaque is found the north-eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The macaques are omnivorous in nature, feeding on both fruits as well as insects, crabs, eggs of birds, frogs, etc. The macaques have a deep brown coloured coat while their face and short tails are hairless in nature.