TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
10 Javan langurs find new home in forests of Malang
Waiting for freedom: One of the 10 Javan langurs are put in cage at Bandung train station before being transported to East Java using a Malabar night train on Wednesday
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
W
span class="caption">Waiting for freedom: One of the 10 Javan langurs are put in cage at Bandung train station before being transported to East Java using a Malabar night train on Wednesday. The langurs will be held at the Javan Langur Center in Batu, East Java, before being released into the wild.(JP/Arya Dipa)
The Javan Primate Rehabilitation Center has transported 10 langurs by train on Wednesday from Ciwidey in West Java to the Javan Langur Center in Coban Talun in East Java’s Batu city.
Sigit Ibrahim, the chief nurse of the West Java-based rehabilitation center, said that the relocation of the animals, which are an East Java sub-species, was part of the process of releasing the protected primates to their natural habitat in the forests of Malang, which is located about 20 kilometers from Batu.
Sigit said of the 10 langurs, six were the result of a repatriation process from Howletss Wild Animal Park in Britain, two were seized in Jakarta and two were seized in Ciamis, West Java.
All of the animals, locally known as lutung, had undergone a rehabilitation process in Ciwidey for between four and nine months. The ones from Britain, for example, arrived at the rehabilitation center in January.
“For the next one to two months they will undergo another preparation process. If they show signs that they are ready to be released we will begin the process,” said Sigit, adding that their whereabouts would be continually monitored after their release.
The majority of the langurs have paired up and are moving around in groups.
“Some are couples. Some are mothers and children. They all will eventually join the existing group of langurs in Malang.”
The release program, said Sigit, was a joint venture between the Aspinal Foundation and the West Java Natural Resource Conservation Center.
The train containing the langurs would arrive in Malang at 7 a.m. on Thursday.
“The animal nurse, the veterinarian and I will check their condition when the train halts at different stations,” Sigit said.
In May, the Batu-based Javan Langur Center released two langurs, which was donated by the Ciwidey’s Javan Primate Rehabilitation Center, into the Kondang Merak protected forest in Malang regency.
Langurs are endemic to Indonesia and are divided into two sub-species: the East Java sub-species (Trachypithecus auratus auratus) and the West Java sub-species (Trachypithecus auratus mauritius).
Their presence in their natural habitat is important because they maintain the balance in the ecosystem. They are part of the food chain and is often hunted by top predators like the Javan leopard.
Javan langurs are also found in some areas of East Java, including Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, Mount Raung and Mount Argopuro, as well as in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and Bali.
In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorized Javan langurs as vulnerable and put it on its red list of threatened species.
However, their natural habitat in Java Island is declining due to the conversion of the forest into plantations and housing, as well as poaching.
