Pushing for Protection of the Nearly Extinct Bornean Langur

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Bornean Langur (Presbytis Chrysomelas ssp. Cruciger) is categorized as critically endangered wildlife, but it has yet been considered as a protected species in Indonesia. 

This concern was specifically discussed in a ‘webinar’ held on Monday, August 10, aptly dubbed “The Urgency to name the Bornean Langur as a protected species in the Betung Kerihun National Park.”

According to the head of the national park, Arief Mahmud, Langur can only be found in Sarawak, Sabah, and Malaysia. 

"In research in 2011-2012, the species was discovered at Sentarum Lake and there are great pictures of it, but this is a type of Langur that is yet protected in Indonesia,” said Mahmud on Monday. 

He suspected that the main cause if this was due to the lack of or absence of records regarding this species. The Forestry and Environment Ministry’s Regulation No.20/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/6/2018 also does not mention this specific Langur as a protected species. 

Arief Mahmud hoped that the online seminar can be the first step to push for the conservation of the endemic primate that is already rarely observed. 

According to the Head of IPB University’s Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Nyoto Santoso, there was only a handful of the primate population back in the 1990s, and the improvements in the field of taxonomy and species identification can help record its exact population. 

Santoso revealed that the spread of the primate had narrowed and a researcher identified as Sangadi had actually discovered the Bornean Langur in 2012 but was not researched further. The following research by Pusparini showed that the Langur can survive despite human activities and also recorded that there were 31 Bornean Langurs in 2012. 

Read: Javan Rhino Population in Ujung Kulon National Park Increases

MOH KHORY ALFARIZI