Endangered Primate Rescue Center (

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: ''Trung tâm cứu hộ linh trưởng nguy cấp'') (also known as EPRC

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

) is located in Cuc Phuong National Park, Ninh Binh province, in

Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese word ...

. The center is one of the first animal rescue centers in Vietnam and one of the largest primate rescue centers in Southeast Asia. It is a non-profit project aiming at rescuing, rehabilitation, breeding, research and conservation of endangered primate species in Vietnam.

History

In 1991, Tilo Nadler came to Vietnam to make a documentary film about Delacour's Langur. On this trip, he saw the threats that endangered primate species were facing. In 1992, Frankfurt Zoological Society called for help from specialists to perform a langur conservation project in Vietnam and Tilo Nadler volunteered for this project. Starting from March 1993, Tilo Nadler built EPRC Vietnam and became the Director of the rescue center in Cuc Phuong National Park. Currently EPRC

is managed under Vietnam Primate Conservation Program and it is operated by Zoo Leipzig and Cuc Phuong National Park. Tilo Nadler has retired from the center, and it is now run by contracted Directors from Zoo Leipzig.

Facilities

At the present, EPRC

has more than 48 large enclosures, 2 electric-fenced semi-wild areas (one sized 2 hectares and one 5 hectares). The semi-wild areas are built to prepare qualified animals to be released into the wild. They also help researchers to study the behavior of primates changing from captivity to a semi-wild area. There are enclosures with heated housing specifically designed for primate species of Central and South

Animals

There are around 180 animals at EPRC Vietnam and this number fluctuates over time due to release, or death of animals. Some animals born at EPRC Vietnam are the first of their species to be bred successfully in captivity such as the Catba langur, Delacour's langur and Gray-shanked douc langur. There are 15 primate species there: - Lorises:

Slow loris Slow lorises are a group of several species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primates that make up the genus ''Nycticebus''. Found in Southeast Asia and bordering areas, they range from Bangladesh and Northeast India in the west to the Sulu Archip ...

, Pygmy loris; -

Langurs The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. Some classifications split ...

François' langur François' langur (''Trachypithecus francoisi''), also known as Francois' leaf monkey, the Tonkin leaf monkey, or the white side-burned black langur is a species of lutung and the type species of its species group. It is one of the least studied ...

Hatinh langur The Hatinh langur (''Trachypithecus hatinhensis'') is a highly threatened Old World monkey found in limestone forests in Vietnam, primarily in the Quảng Bình Province. A recent survey discovered a small population living in the Quảng Trị ...

, Catba langur, Delacour's langur, Indochinese gray langur,

Laotian langur The Laotian langur or white-browed black langur (''Trachypithecus laotum'') is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to Laos. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. Genetically the Indochinese bla ...

; - Douc langurs: Red-shanked douc langur, Gray-shanked douc langur; - Gibbons: Black gibbon
Northern white-cheeked black gibbonSouthern white-cheeked black gibbonNorthern yellow-cheeked black gibbonSouthern yellow-cheeked gibbon

Funding

Approximately 75% of support for EPRC

comes from Zoo Leipzig. The rest comes from donors
donations
volunteers and merchandise.

Staff

There are currently 31 staff at EPRC; most of them are animal keepers coming from Muong ethnicity.

References

{{reflist

External links

Facebook fanpage

EPRC Website
Animal rescue groups Primate sanctuaries