A local photographer removes a wire snare from a front leg of a red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) on a tree in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng City. The langur was trapped on a tree on the roadside, and it would broke the leg after trying to escape from the trap. Photo courtesy of Bùi Thanh Lang

ĐÀ NẴNG – A red-shanked douc langur, an endangered primate species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was rescued by a group of local photographers during a trip to the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve. The animal’s front leg was badly injured after struggling to escape from a wire snare set high in a tree.

Photographer Bùi Thanh Lang and two colleagues discovered the female langur trapped by the leg on a roadside tree.

He said the animal had been caught in a wire snare deliberately placed by illegal poachers.

According to Lang, one of the photographers managed to remove the snare, but the langur’s limb appeared broken as it could no longer cling to branches while moving.

A front leg of a red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) is trapped by a wire snare on a tree in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve. It was then rescued by a local photographers group. Photo courtesy of Bùi Thanh Lang

The langur and its family members, including a male and a newborn langur, left the tree and went into the jungle, Lang said, adding that the group had called local rangers after the rescue.

According to Thanh Ngọc Trúc, a volunteer who has been working to protect monkeys and langurs in the reserve since 2016, traps can easily be found in the area, but illegal snaring continues despite patrols by local rangers.

She said many wire snares and clam traps had been removed by herself during daily checks in the reserve.

Trúc said she had witnessed at least 10 monkeys suffering serious wounds or losing limbs because of traps or traffic accidents.

Local ranger forces reported that more than 400 traps had been removed from the reserve in 2024, while monkeys were killed by cars and motorbikes when crossing the road or by household dogs on farms in the reserve.

The reserve is home to more than 1,300 red-shanked douc langurs, a Critically Endangered species listed by the IUCN.

The Sơn Trà reserve receives around 10,000 visitors every month. VNS