Vietnam Primate Conservation Status Review 2002 - Hoang Lien ...

Vietnam Primate Conservation Status Review Part 2: LEAF MONKEYS
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✱ Written information from the police (which has a much stronger influence than the national
park) about existing laws, the prohibition of hunting and trading wild animals, and the
situation of animals in the wild and their protection should be distributed to all communities,
tourist agencies, hotels, and restaurants.
✱ Informative materials about the laws and regulations for protection and the critical status
of wildlife on Cat Ba should be distributed to all schools and schoolchildren (in progress).
✱ Ranger activities, such as patrols inside the forest and by boat, should be improved and
increased (in progress).
✱ The national park’s land and particularly sea borders must be more strictly guarded to
prevent illegal entry for hunting, fishing, honey collection, and fuel-wood cutting.
✱ Laws must be strictly enforced, and the appropriate punishment must be applied for any
illegal activity, especially for the hunting and trading of wild animals.
✱ High-risk key areas, especially certain fjords, should be designated as strictly protected
zones. Fishing and any human activities should be forbidden in these fjords.
✱ Honey collection as a main cause of forest fire and habitat destruction should be strictly
prohibited and punished, and any destruction of habitat through fire must also be forbidden
and appropriately punished.
✱ The release of any non-native species, such as Long-tailed macaques Macaca fascicularis,
must be strictly forbidden and any release of native species must be strictly controlled.
To enforce these activities, a very close cooperation between the national park, the police, the local authorities,
and the tourism department on the island and the mainland is necessary. Also necessary are unequivocal
regulations regarding protection and responsibilities for the sea area that belong to the national park.
3.3.6.2 Langur population management
Even with strict protection, not all of the langur groups can establish contact with other groups for
the purpose of reproduction. Several groups are already in reproductive isolation with no opportunity
to exchange or replace group members (Stenke, 2001c).
There are several possibilities to support or restore the panmixia of a population:
In-situ conservation programme
Single animals or small groups with no contact with the rest of the population should be translocated
to an area where another group (or groups) exists. This area must be strictly protected against
hunting and other human impacts. Local stakeholders must agree that there will be no disturbance
and ranger stations and patrols must ensure that there is no human impact.
Keeping animals from moving out of the translocation area can be difficult. To prevent this, the
potential translocation site should preferably be an island or a peninsula. A technical device such as
an electric fence might be helpful to keep translocated langurs from emigrating, and would constitute
an additional means of protection against hunters.
Ex-situ conservation programme
Another strategy to manage and control a small population is to establish a captive breeding population.
Confiscated young langurs, injured or handicapped animals should remain in captivity. Groups