Đán Văn Khoan, a person who lives in the forest more than at home, has been following the herds of Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys in Khau Ca for over 23 years. Photo danviet.vn

TUYÊN QUANG — Once feared as ruthless 'wildlife assassins,' former hunters in old Nà Hang Commune have traded rifles for conservation, becoming the very guardians of the Tonkin snub-nosed langur.

Đán Văn Khoan, now a leader in the community group protecting this critically endangered primate, openly recalls a darker past—shooting a 30kg male langur, killing lactating females and even eating infant langurs. His group’s tally of slain langurs numbers at least 62.

Khoan, who spends more time in the forest than at home, has tracked the herds in Khau Ca for over 23 years. At the langur protection 'headquarters' nestled within these primeval forests, seasoned 'experts' remain on constant watch.

These local villagers, intimately familiar with the Khau Ca and Du Già forests, bring unmatched knowledge from their past lives as hunters—now channelled into preserving the fragile habitat and its rare inhabitants.

World’s rarest lagurs

A Tonkin snub-nosed monkey. Photo danviet.vn

The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, an endemic wild species of Việt Nam, is classified on the world’s Red List as critically endangered. It is also among the 25 primate species at the highest risk of extinction globally.

Their appearance in some places and disappearance in others is a mysterious story.

To date, in some places such as Tát Kẻ - Bản Bung - biodiversity decline has meant that the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey has ‘not been recorded again.’ This rare and extremely peculiar species can now be found only in the primeval forests of Khau Ca - part of Du Già National Park of Đồng Văn Karst Plateau, across all of Việt Nam and even the entire world.

In 2002, a troop of 60 langurs was discovered - the largest ever recorded in Việt Nam at the time. Since then, awareness-raising campaigns and decisive actions to stop the exploitation of this rare and endemic primate species and its habitat have been promptly carried out.

To date, about 200 Tonkin snub-nosed langurs have been recorded.

Conservation work enhanced

Vigilance is still necessary but peace has returned and joy seems to shine in the eyes of each langur as they feed on magnolia flowers and frolic freely among the lush green canopy of Khau Ca.

These primate groups, once considered 'critically endangered globally,' are now reproducing well. In fact, a troop can have up to 20 young langurs. A 'young population' is like pure gold for development — and this applies not only to humans. The langur groups in Khau Ca are becoming gradually more familiar with people.

The 'inexplicable disappearance' or frightening 'temporary absence' of primate groups has been a painful lesson for conservation work in neighbouring districts and provinces.

Fortunately, in Khau Ca, with the growing number of langurs and many adorable infants clinging to their mothers’ bellies, conservation experts worldwide have been genuinely impressed.

For over 20 years, the tireless efforts of the langur protection team — climbing mountains, tracking, recording and researching — have not been in vain.

More than a dozen members have endured daily hardships, patrolling 15,000ha of the Du Già National Park across vast areas in the stone mountains of Tuyên Quang.

They have achieved remarkable feats, such as setting up information boxes on tree trunks deep in the forest, where patrol members leave notes about any sightings or sounds of langurs.

Without motor roads or mobile signals, this method of recording and exchanging conservation data shows the persistence and ingenuity of people living and working in the rugged limestone mountains.

Over the past 20 years, with investment from Fauna and Flora International (FFI) — one of the world’s oldest wildlife conservation organisations — a stilt house big enough to provide food and shelter for nearly a dozen people has been built on the edge of the forest.

Recently, they have even been equipped with small-capacity solar power for charging GPS devices, walkie-talkies and mobile phones.

“If primary forests disappear, or ancient magnolia trees are cut down or fail to bloom, the grey-shanked langur will vanish,” Chu Xuân Cảnh, manager of the FFI snub-nosed langurs protection project in Tuyên Quang Province, told danviet.vn.

“In 2023, I observed and photographed a troop of 95 langurs, including nearly 20 juveniles. Counting them filled me with indescribable joy,” he said. "After posing for photos, the langurs disappeared into the forest."

Villages, the nation and the world will lose a species found nowhere else but Việt Nam — a species that also supports local livelihoods and represents the intactness of the forest that sustains village life, he added.

“I love sitting here watching them [the langurs]. I have done it for 23 years and never tired of it,” Khoan said.

The langur seems to have transformed once-infamous hunters like Khoan into romantics. VNS

According to research, the world currently recognises five species of grey-shanked douc langurs:Golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana): Found in temperate mountain forests in central and southwest China.Yunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti): Found only in southwest China (Tibet and Yunnan).Guizhou snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus brelichi): Found in Guizhou Province, China.Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri): Found along the Myanmar–China border.Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus): Endemic to Việt Nam, inhabiting a few forests in the country’s northeast. VNS