Javan Langurs Set for Wild Release
Malang. Authorities in East Java are set to release nine Javan langurs into the wild after the monkeys tested negative for various illnesses and infectious diseases.
“This is the final health check before they are released,” said Iwan Kurniawan, project manager of the Javan Langur Center in Batu, East Java.
“The plan is to release them at the end of April or early May in the Kondang Merak forest in Malang district.”
The JLC tested the monkeys, aged between two and 15 years old, mainly for Mamal Old Tuberculine (MOT) and tuberculosis for fear of spreading the diseases to other wildlife.
The center also ensured the langurs tested negative for other illnesses that could decrease their chances of survival in the wild.
Two of the monkeys scheduled for release, named Dwale, 7, and Adsuki, 15, were born in captivity abroad.
The pair were born at Port Lympne Zoo and Howletts Zoo respectively, both in southeast England, to parents that were part of an animal-exchange program with Jakarta’s Ragunan Zoo.
They are part of a group of six British-born langurs who were transferred to the East Java rehabilitation center in July 2014. The others have already been released Iwan said.
Meanwhile, Kiki, Lilin, Untung, Kardun, Onet, Markonah and Atun were confiscated from local residents who had kept them as pets or captured them for encroaching on plantations.
The rehabilitation center is currently home to 20 langurs.
“As the animals get older, people no longer find them cute, which is why many are abandoned by their owners,” Iwan said, adding that the nine scheduled for release are considered lucky,
Langurs kept as pets often suffer from severe cases of diarrhea, herpes, hepatitis, simian retrovirus and other simian and human illnesses
An estimated 2,100 lungurs live in the forests of East Java, primarily in Bromo, Tengger and Semeru. Troops have also been sighted on the slopes of Ijen mountain, the Baluran National Park, the forests of Alaw Purwo, Meru Betiri national park and the R. Sooerjo forest park in Batu.
According to the Malang-Batu Nature Conservancy Agency, the Javan langur population is rapidly on the decline, with the animal being trapped then traded illegaly as pets.
A baby langur can fetch up to Rp 1 million ($77).
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