A young grey-shanked douc, rescued from poachers by a war veteran earlier this month, has found a new life in Cuc Phuong National Park in northern Ninh Binh Province.
A rescue center for douc, listed in Vietnam’s Red Book as an endangered species, is on the edge of the Cuc Phuong primeval forest, some 120 kilometers from Hanoi.
The station is a cooperative project between the park and Germany’s Frankfurt World Animal Organization. Over the past 15 years, it has been the only place in the world to successfully breed several species of douc in captivity.
Home to endangered primates
Directed by Tilo Nadler, with 25 veterinarians and biological experts on staff, the station’s main function is to rescue endangered primate species, including the slow loris.
Experts from the Frankfurt World Animal Organization and Leipzig Zoo travel to Vietnam frequently to help station officers with technical and professional matters.
Timo Gesser, a German primate expert, and Nguyen Duc Vinh, the chief of the rescue team, refer to their primate guests as “friend” or “baby.”
Three days after arriving at the park, the four-year-old douc rescued by Dang Kim Cuong on March 1, is still in a separate enclosure.
The young monkey is already accustomed to Vinh and Gessner, who transported him from Quang Ngai to the rescue station, conducted a health examination, fed him, cleaned his cage and cared for him.
The 6 kilogram douc calmly tucks into some leaves next to Vinh, while a visitor takes photos.
Vinh, from the Muong ethnic minority, said the douc was one of 150 rescued primates at the station and one of only 10 grey-shanked duocs in residence.
“When they are first brought here, they are all panicked, just like humans,” Vinh said. “So they all enjoy special treatment for their first six months.”
Each new station resident is usually offered several courses a day, with each meal made up of many kinds of leaves.
The newest resident is recovering well from his close call with poachers in Quang Ngai Province.
“Maybe it’s because he is young, he has a good immune system,” Gesser said.
Vinh said it is the first time the station had received a Pygathrix cinerea, or grey-shanked douc, without having to pay a ransom.
“Many times I have seen our director get angry with poachers who know the value of endangered species and try to swap them for money,” he said.
“Director Tilo is on a Laos trip now. If he was here, he could tell you many interesting stories about our rescues.”
Orphan Regala
In central Quang Ngai Province in August last year, a one-year-old douc was rescued from poachers in a traumatized condition after seeing its parents shot dead before her eyes.
Vinh and Kelly, a German expert, said when they traveled to Quang Ngai to bring the animal to the rescue station the baby monkey was very weak.
“For the first few days, we could not feed her milk because she was too tired to keep the bottle in her mouth,” Vinh said.
The monkey, named Regala, was extremely stressed, often screaming, crying or convulsing.
The station assigned female officers to take care of her like a baby. Every night they took turns to stay with her. The women comforted and fed her every day.
As the days passed, Regala got stronger. She is no longer afraid of humans and is getting used to the forest again, learning the habits of doucs.
She now has a small room of her own, with a heater set at 25 degrees Celsius, her own water pillow and warm towels in a wardrobe labeled “Regala.”
The center’s Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong said the milk feeds will stop once Regala is two years old.
“If we pamper her too much, the ‘baby’ won’t be able to live independently and it will be hard for her to find her way in the forest,” she said.
“After six months, Regala has gained weight and changed her attitude.”
Phuong and other female officers are called the “moms” of endangered animals in the center.
Wildlife at risk
But not all wild monkeys are as lucky as Regala. Vinh said he saw many tragic douc hunted and wounded by ruthless poachers.
Some arrive at the center with injured arms or covered in blood, weeping and screaming. Some arrive with fatal stomach conditions from being fed bananas and sweet fruit instead of leaves and sour jungle fruit.
Cuong, the war veteran who saved the endangered baby grey-shanked douc from poachers in Quang Ngai, said he was so happy to see the animal back in the wild.
“We soldiers were protected by the forests in the war, so now it’s time for us to pay the debt we owe to the forests,” he said.
According to the center, Vietnam is the only country where grey-shanked douc are found. Some 500 animals are estimated to live in forests scattered from central Quang Nam Province to the Central Highlands provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum.
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