Species Endangered (MS-Blog Series from) - I / 09

Proboscis Monkey

Class: Mammalia; Order: Primates;

Latin name: Nasalis Larvatus;

IUCN Status: EN (Endangered) / Cites: Appendix I

(as 2009 situation).

Proboscis Monkeys (Nasalis Larvatus - earlier sometimes named as Dutch monkey and also as the Long-nosed monkey) are among the curious looking creatures in nature. They belong in the family of Cercopithecidae (Old World Monkeys) and apparently the name derives from their extremely large noses. The nose even larger on the males, supposition being that it may hold a cooling task in radiating animals excess body heat (other explanations mention that related to their breeding behavior). These animals are only found at the Island of Borneo; thus from Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia.

The species lives mostly in the jungles close to rivers cutting though islands forests. The habitat areas consist almost exclusively from mangrove forest, that adjoin the rivers and streams. Proboscis monkeys are mostly plant eaters, and they have cellulose digesting bacteria in stomach which allows them to use of food other animals mostly avoid, fx mangrove leaves and other toxic chemicals containing forest plants. Also they are mentioned as most aquatic from all the primates and excellent swimmers.

But, as we don't necessary hold any especial, particular knowledge to present but there's actually amounts of information about them in web in form of pics, videos, etc (see those fx at Arkive), we can as well loan here a brief description:

“Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) - The swimming star with the giant nose

Everyone who has the opportunity to see a Proboscis monkey is struck by its giant nose. But there is a second feature which is very typical for Proboscis monkeys and their relatives, the so called Leaf-monkeys - it's their large belly. Indicated by the name of that group of apes, they almost exclusively feed on leaves - and leaves are not easy to digest. Moreover leaves are not very rich in energy-content. So Proboscis monkeys have to eat a lot of leaves and spend most of their time on feeding. In order to obtain enough energy from their meagre nourishment, Proboscis monkeys have got a complicated stomach divided into several parts. Their stomach is quite similar to that of ruminants, which have to face the same problems. Adult Proboscis monkeys are large animals. Males reach a length of about 70 cm and a weight up to 24 kg. Females are significantly smaller, reaching lengths of 60 cm and weights of just 12 kg. The tails of Proboscis monkeys are about as long as their bodies. Their fur is brick-red, the front and the cheeks are of brighter colour and the arms and legs are more greyish. The most obvious feature of Proboscis monkeys is the male's extremely long nose, shaped like a cucumber. Noses of females and young are not small either but don't reach the sizes of the noses of males by far.

Proboscis monkeys inhabit Borneo. They are endemic on that South-Asian island. The prefered habitat of Proboscis monkeys are rainforests of the lowlands and most of all mangrove-forests at the river mouths. They live on trees and wander about in groups of sizes from 10 to 30 animals. Mostly several adult males can be found in one group, but groups with just one single adult male are known too. Proboscis monkeys move quite rapidly on the trees. They are able to swing from branch to branch using their hands but are also very skilled in running on all fours. If Proboscis monkeys are in a hurry, they jump from tree to tree. They prefer this way to move when they have to cross rivers or escape from predators like the Clouded leopard, a cat which is closely related to the Tiger. If there's no other opportunity to escape left, Proboscis monkeys drop themselves into the water even from high branches. They are very skilled swimmers and divers. This is not very common among apes, since most ape species are said to be more or less scared of water. But it's a necessity of life to be able to swim in a habitat that is dominated by rivers and river mouths. But accidents are very common; sometimes Proboscis monkeys are driven out to the open sea by river currents.

Adult male Proboscis monkeys are imposing figures. They are quite aggressive towards members of other groups. But before initiating a fight they try to clarify their positions by showing threatening behaviour. Doing a lot of fuss they break branches and give loud calls. But there are not much further details known about Proboscis monkey behaviour and their social life in the wild. Long-term studies of Proboscis monkey groups are extremely difficult, because they can be observed only by boat in the mangrove-forests. In spite of the unapproachability of its habitat the Proboscis monkey is regarded to be endangered, since habitat destruction doesn't stop even at such places.” (This article was originally published at magazine.naturspot.de. Link to the original article )

It seems that until recent times their specialities (in forms of diet and habitat area, mostly) was permitting these monkeys to remain relatively safe, even when many wild animal species next to their habitual areas had become threatened in just few decades. In addition to the best known Orangutans, various other unique species (of Borneo) have suffered from the combined process of loggings and land clearing for agricultural use - Its noticeable, according to these articles from Mongabay that from 1980-90s to recent years about 80 per cent of the primary forests in Borneo witnessed unforeseen(in global scale, even) rate of loggings, leaving then ao remaining 1.2 million hectares of mangrove forests degraded (and as 'refugee areas' for the forests wild animal species). Late in wisdom we (ourselves, here) then also find remarked that most of the timber cut went for such stuff and products sold in the industrialized countries as garden furnitures (and not forgetting to mention here as well: also for paper pulp and chopsticks...), whose material could have easily been obtained from other woods and unquestionably by ecologically less harmful way (; U.S. And Japan markets were the main direction as mentioned in article. But, the European customers wouldn't have too much grounds for condemn and resentment, since at least part of the imported garden stuff for the continent as well still recently originated from uncontrolled destruction of Congo Basin rainforests, carried out by the commercial business needs.)

Returning to our particular topic here, the Proboscis monkeys that prefer mostly habitat impenetrable for humans that until latest times was found of little commercial value. So, they were still (quite) recently flourishing, but the river-sides are now also harvested, and so modern drainage technology has reduced former mangrove swamps to narrow edges along rivers. As consequence, nowadays Farming has been noticed as the most extensive reason to reduction of mangrove forests - these disappearing by faster rate (globally about some 20 per cent loss during 1980-2005) than the regular rainforests, fx. These monkey's in question are not known easily accustomed to living in zoo's, and the likely chance - as well as for the many other particular species in the areas - is in the conservation areas where exist the remaining untouched spots, often surrounded by established plantations.


The mentioned things (and other information, fx one Proboscis monkey population having extinct in during this period of time) of course then leaves a rather anxious feeling from the prospective future and from animal species populations survival chances in general. Fire breaks, expected to increase in the future as result of climate change advancing, now expose the vulnerable forests left for further rapid destruction (Forest fires having caused massive forest destruction in Borneo at the 1997-98 already). But basically, this development don't seem to been much different process from that in the northern hemispheres during some hundred of years (if not comparable, because it has been more directly joined with today's global economics). With modern technology and commercial industrial practices in use all this only seems to have happened in far shorter time, some 30 years. Some of the few regions (in the world) with such rich biodiversity now disappeared by large part, hopefully this not shows what can take place in coming years.


Later (29/07/09) added: It's also newsed that conservation parks maybe also have effect by reducing the deforestation in the areas surrounding them, as noted from parks in Sumatra (although the effect is admitted controversial and in the case of Sumatra may be a result from other co- factors too). As well, although the history and origins of the idea from conservation areas is sometimes mentioned (/recently newsed, see "Yosemite model") as much controversial and often over-romanticed, it feels that the coin always has two sides(as usual) ; (from the MSW perspective) seems clear that the existence of parks in most cases has more benefits for the wildlife than the absence. On the other hand, it is of course as much obvious that people who have lived in the area for longer time, some thousands of years, more often are probably living right (noted in the above Yosemite-article). But it is as much obvious, the need for such parks, in the first place, raises from the phenomenom known/described fx as modernization - and no-one has yet invented the universal model to stop its side-effects/destruction it usually carries.

----------

Powered by ScribeFire.