Rare And Colorful: A Dusky Langur Born At Adelaide Zoo
The baby Dusty Langur has to be one of the most unusual members of the monkey kingdom. Born bright orange, he clings to his mother for several months, long after his coat turns from orange to grey. You can imagine what a treat it is to see a baby Dusty Langur with his mom, like folks at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia.
This little guy was just born a few days ago. Actually, the baby may not be a guy, as the sex will not be known for about a week.
This photo from the National Geographic Photo Contest 2011 shows an older Dusky Langur with his mom, and you can see how his fur is becoming a 'more mature' color....
Though baby langurs are generally born about two years apart, the new Adelaide langur was born only a year and a half after mom's last baby, so there may be competition for milk, as the older langur has not been weened, so to speak. Baby langurs are totally dependent on their mother's milk to survive.
Dusty Langurs are native to the rainforests of Thailand, India, and other parts of southeast Asia. They are the best of monkey tree jumpers. They dislike water and get their liquid needs fulfilled by eating leaves. That's why they're often called dusty leaf monkeys. Because of their unusual eyes, dramatically set off from the rest of their faces, the langurs are non uncommonly called spectacled leaf monkeys.
The Dusty Langur is a curious and not unfriendly monkey. That, and its cuteness are why langurs are often taken from their natural habitats to become pets. This is dangerous for the langur; one, because it cannot survive without its mother's milk, and the other, because the langur family is very interdependent.