AGARTALA, Feb 3 ? Wearing specs they live on the treetops. As the sun rises in the east they all come together to bask on the winter sun?off and on making incomprehensible noises. And whenever any one approachers, they just take flight to dense forest. A typical monkey business, indeed. Naturally. Because they are the ?bespectacled? primates, a unique feature of Tripura?s forest.
Scientists call them Phayer?s Langur (Trachypithecus phayrei). These small and agile langurs got the name Spectacle Monkey or ?Chashma Bandar? for their striking feature?white rings encircling the eyes giving them an appearance of being bespectacled. They are also known as ?Dhudhmukhi? because of a pale white patch surrounding their month. These are State Animal of Tripura and according to researchers they are found only in this State and some parts of adjoining Assam and Mizoram.
Though male and female all wear ?specs?, they do not like the same ?frame? of course. While white patch-frame around the eyes of females are ?old fashioned? triangular or cone shaped, the ocular markings in the males are circular or elliptical. However, as if like humans, during infancy, the specs are absent.
When they grow up the specs also develop around their ever restive eyes. Darker brown on the dorsal side with a varying degree of greyish gloss over the back and a ventral surface of white or whitish yellow, these moneys like their ?specs? also boast of longer tails about 65 to 80 cms which is blacker at the base and lighter distally. Body length is 55 to 65 cms and weight is about 6 to 9 kg. Mainly folivores, these arboreals, always in a group of 8-22, prefer to hang on trees coming down to earth only when they need to negotiate with tree canopy, and well of course, if they want to have a ?walk?.
Researchers say, three South East Asian sub species of T phayrei are distributed in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, T. hailand, Laos and Vietnam. According to Dr Atul K Gupta, IFS, who has done extensive research on the primates here, in the country Phayer?s langurs are confined to three north eastern states Tripura, adjoining Assam and Mizoram only, the largest population being in Tripura.
It is highly likely that Phayer?s langurs might have migrated to Cachar (Assam) and Dampa wild life sanctuary in Mizoram from Tripura only in recent past. These areas are close to Tripura and connected by dense ever green forest. But of late since the forest cover is getting lost, the migration seems to have also stopped.
The idea that these bespectacled langurs were originally from Tripura is strengthened for the fact that despite having the similar habitat, presence of these primates were reported from nowhere in the region which does not have any land connection.
Even in Tripura though the presence Chashma bandar is reported from all over the State, they are mainly found in south district than the other three?north, west and Dhalai. Dr Gupta during his survey of the primates in 1989 found 899 Phayer?s langurs from 56 groups in the State. If the figures of Siphakiala Gumi wild life are included then the total number of these primates would be more than 1000.
In Assam, only four groups were noticed, one each from Nagargena, Damcherra, Choraibakh and Manipuri-chil, all in Cachar, according to an official report. In Mizoram the langur?s presence was noticed only from Dampa Wild Life sanctuary. The groups of Phayer?s langurs with 8 to 22 members each having their own home range, seem to be very male dominant family. Usually a group comprises one adult male, 3 to 6 adult females (females are large ones) and sub adults, juveniles and infants.
Mother monkey gives birth to her golden brown baby between November and March and she devotes almost all day for rearing the baby. The father prefers to either jump or yawn away his day on tree top and, if alarmed, makes calls sounding similar to ?kha kha kha? Dr Gupta says : these primates have four different types of calls expressing different meanings in their social life.
Although the Phayer?s langurs have their definite home range they do not mind if other sympatric species like capped langur, rhesus macaque, slow lorris or hoolock gibbon come to their homes. Study on these langurs find they mainly feed on leaves of koroi (albizzia procere), Harish (a stipulata) acacia, Krishnachura (Delonix regia).
This Spectacle Monkey is considered as ?vulnerable?, with total conservation priority rating at ?five?. In Tripura the State Government has established Gomatio wild life protected area specially for this primate?s conservation.
Jayanta Bhattacharjee, a keen monkey watcher says, for conservation risk of this species, Phayer?s langur has been placed under Schedule 1 of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972/1991. But he feels it is high time that the species is identified as ?highly endangered? since its population is decreasing steadily following destruction of its habitat.