Nilgiri langurs give birth to offspring

CHENNAI: Two Nilgiri langurs gave birth to an offspring each at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park here recently, thereby, increasing the number of the endangered species in captivity to 25 in the country, Zoo officials said.

Two females of the glossy black primates gave birth on May 1 to two young ones whose gender was yet to be determined, the officials said today.

Nilgiri langurs are black-faced colobines of medium size and endemic to the Western Ghats in South India and are concentrated in forest areas of Nilgiri district in Tamil Nadu and Kodagu in Karnataka.

Last month, a male and a female of this endangered species were sent to Sakkarbagh Zoological Garden at Junagadh in Gujarat.

AAZP, the largest zoological garden in the country spread over 1,490 acres houses 18 of the 25 Niligiri langurs bred in captivity in seven zoos under the Central Zoo Authority.