People hand over rare Indochinese silvered langur discovered on Saigon River to forest rangers

Người dân giao voọc bạc Đông Dương quý hiếm phát hiện trên sông Sài Gòn cho kiểm lâm - Ảnh 1. — Forest rangers receive Indochinese silvered langurs voluntarily handed over by Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Phuong (living in An Nhon Tay commune) - Photo provided by Forest rangers

On November 11, information from the Mobile Forest Ranger and Forest Fire Prevention Team No. 1 (under the Ho Chi Minh City Forest Ranger Department) said that the unit had received, cared for, raised and processed according to regulations an Indochinese silvered langur. The animal was voluntarily handed over by Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Phuong (residing in An Nhon Tay commune).

Ms. Phuong said that about 7 years ago, a friend of hers, while fishing on the Saigon River, discovered a small animal in the water hyacinth that looked like a monkey. The animal was soaked and shivering from the cold.

Ms. Phuong's friend brought the animal home and gave it to her mother to care for and raise. "It was on the water hyacinth, not knowing where it came from. It looked so pitiful, when I brought it home it was cold, I saw it was wet so I used something to wipe it off," Ms. Phuong recalled, adding that at that time the animal weighed about 1kg.

With her mother's consent, Ms. Phuong contacted the local authorities and voluntarily handed over the animal to the forest rangers with the hope that it would be cared for, raised, and released back into the wild.

Receiving the above animal to raise, care for and handle according to regulations, Mobile Forest Ranger and Forest Fire Prevention Team No. 1 (under the Ho Chi Minh City Forest Protection Department) determined that this was an Indochinese silvered langur, scientific name Trachypithecus germaini , female, weighing about 4kg.

This is a species in group IB in the list of endangered, precious and rare species according to Circular 27 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment .