A Preliminary Wildlife and Habitat Survey of the Proposed Northern ...

Laos of Chinese Pangolin Manis pentadactyla and Hoary Bamboo Rat Rhizomys pruinosus,previously these species have been found only in food markets or in captivity in villages.Table 4. Status of Key Species of Mammals in NTX and NGAWet ForestLogging RoadPPUpper NamGnouang/LowerNam HeunMiddle NamHeun/LowerNam ChamUpper NamCham ValleyKey Mammal SpeciesSlow LorisPygmy LorisRhesus MacaquePStump-tailed Macaque R R R DDouc Langur R RGibbon sp. P PChinese PangolinPBlack Giant Squirrel P P PInornate Squirrel P PFishing CatPTigerRMuntjac sp. P R R R PSouthern Serow R RSaola R R DC Common: seen daily, often in large numbers, in favored habitatP Present: abundance was not assessedR Reports: information gathered from village interviewsD Remains of the species were found, usually in a village or with a hunting party[ ] Indicates a provisional identificationNorthernBorder Hills(Timmins &Evans 1994)4.2.2 Key Mammal Species accountsSlow Loris Nycticebus coucang Regionally At RiskOne was seen on 17 April along the wet forest logging road near the abandoned village ofBan Vangkhi. This species is usually found frequently during night surveys in lowland areasof Lao. The encounter rate along the NTX road is much lower than in lowland sites surveyedin the same season such as Phou Xang He NBCA (Savannakhet), the middle Xe Namnoy road(Attapu) and Nam Kading NBCA (Bolikhamsai) (Duckworth et al. 1994, WCS 1995b, d), butmirror the low numbers on the Nakai Plateau (WCS 1995a). The species may be mostcommon at altitudes below 500 m, but further data are needed to confirm this.Pygmy Loris Nycticebus pygmaeus Globally ThreatenedOne small loris was seen on 20 April. There is currently some confusion as to the number ofspecies of loris in Lao and their relative distributions. There are two forms of “Pygmy Loris”in Lao and it has not been established to which form the name N. pygmaeus is correctlyapplied. The animal observed was clearly different from the sympatric Slow Loris, but itsrelationship with other claimed “Pygmy Lorises” observed recently in Lao (Duckworth 1994,WCS 1995b, d) could not be established since it was seen by a different observer.Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta Regionally at RiskOne group was seen along the Nam Heun on May 22. A young male of this species was keptas a pet in Ban Sopsang and reportedly had come from near the Nam Heun.Two other macaque species, Pig-tailed, M. nemestrina and Assamese Macaque, M.assamensis can be expected to occur, though neither were seen in the field and identificationto species can not be confirmed by village interviews.29