We all know what happens after climate change, deforestation, and loss of habitats to our precious wildlife. The results are devastating, with plants and animals depleting in population and living in bad conditions.
Some of these primates are now even extinct, which means they no longer exist. But before reaching extinction, these animals reach a phase in which they are called endangered species.
This means that their population is in critical numbers and has a chance of being extinct if untreated or not cared for. There are some differences between rare and extinct animals, so be careful not to get mixed up on those terms.
There are many ways to save animals before they are extinct. But today we will showcase some of Earth’s bizarre and endangered primates that require saving.
- Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Their status is critically endangered, which means that they have lost most of their habitats and they are being heavily hunted or poached by hunters.
The eastern lowland gorillas are similar to a usual gorilla, just a little bigger and originate from the rain forests in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The eastern lowland gorilla is considered a special animal because it is Earth’s living primates but on the other hand, it is in threats of extinction.
And amongst other primates, it is considered as a long-living animal. One fun fact about a gorilla is that it has 97-98% similarity to human DNA.
- Gee’s Golden Langur
A golden langur is one of a kind animal with a body covered in golden-colored fur. This has lead to poaching and capture of this langur. This species of langur can only be found in India and Bhutan.
With only less than 1,500 population in India and less than 4,000 in Bhutan, this places the gee’s golden langur at endangered status.
A langur is different and unique from other primates, this is because they only consume leaves and plants. Hence, they are not too active unlike other primates and spends most of their life in trees. A langur is a great swinger and due to its light body, can easily swing from trees to trees.
- Bornean Orangutan
These red-haired apes are extremely social animals that live in families or groups. These mammals can also range in size and weigh up to 100kg and besides that, their arm span can reach a length of 2 meters from fingertip to fingertip.
The meaning of “orangutan” itself has the closest meaning to “human of the forest” when translated to Malay. Orangutans play an important role in the environment and especially in managing a rain forest.
This particular primate consumes a lot of fruits and plays a key role in seed dispersion. After they eat the fruits, the seed would be thrown away and hence would grow again.
Their population is threatened due to habitat destruction in which these rain forests are converted into palm oil plantations.
- Tonkin Snub-nosed
Our next primate is beauty looking primate, with its vibrant pink lips and sky blue face. Its skin is also colored pale blue while its body is covered by black fur.
This type of snub-nosed monkey is known to be the rarest out of the world’s five snub-nosed monkeys. This animal is so critically endangered that its population is less than 200 left and can only be found in Vietnam. It is also considered one of the top 25 most critically endangered species and is now heavily protected by the law.
- Crested Macaque
Indigenous to Sulawesi, Indonesia, a crested macaque is a large primate that lives in groups. This primate is baboon like and it is a very social animal.
This intelligent primate can signal other macaques by using calls or even facial expressions by lifting the crest on its face. This animal is also capable of eating different things from the wild. Such as plants, fruits leaves, to even eating tree bark or roots.
Their diet is so diverse that they could consume up to 145 different species of plants as well as invertebrates or insects. Besides the crested macaque, there are also other animals that live in Indonesia’s rainforests.
- Ring-tailed Lemur
Do you know the movie Madagascar? Well, one of the characters is a ring-tailed lemur. This animal is very well known for its striped tail and also its length.
The tail itself is longer than the body and they spend most of their time on the ground instead of climbing or swinging in trees. These lemur loves to sunbathe, which is the perfect knowledge that they come from Madagascar.
Are you still curious about monkeys? Read our other articles about 5 monkeys in Indonesia.