The Tarai gray langur (''Semnopithecus hector'') is an

Old World monkey Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons ...

, and was formerly considered a subspecies of the

northern plains gray langur The northern plains gray langur (''Semnopithecus entellus''), also known as the sacred langur, Bengal sacred langur and Hanuman langur, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Taxonomy The northern plains gray langur belongs to th ...

. The species is listed as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

, as there are probably not many more than 10,000 mature individuals, and it is experiencing a continuing decline.

Distribution and habitat

The Tarai gray langur is native to northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

, and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

, and inhabits the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n foothills from

Rajaji National Park Rajaji National Park is an Indian national park and tiger reserve that encompasses the Shivaliks, near the foothills of the Himalayas. It is spread over 820 km2 and includes three districts of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri G ...

to southwestern Bhutan. It also lives in the moist deciduous forest of the

Siwalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indian ...

to oak forest ranging from altitudes of .

Behaviour and ecology

The Tarai gray langur is arboreal, mainly terrestrial, diurnal,

folivorous In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds.Jones, S., Martin, R., & Pilbeam, D. (1 ...

, and lives in multi-male multi-female groups. Groups have been observed feeding in orchards and crop fields outside of

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1206256 Tarai gray langur Mammals of Bhutan Mammals of India Mammals of Nepal Monkeys in India Fauna of Sikkim Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of Asia Tarai gray langur Taxa named by R. I. Pocock