PrimaTourism: Preliminary study on activity budget of Presbytis neglectus with insights on local people perception on the product’s potential economic value in Johor

Abstract

The newly classified Schlegel’s Banded Langur, P. neglectus in Malaysia are one of the most understudied primates in Malaysia. Unknown population status and distribution coupled with highly fragmented population recorded in Malaysia demands immediate need to study the fundamental aspects of the species such as daily activity budget. PrimaTourism are also suggested as a viable sustainable conservation measures for this highly threatened species. Thus, the objectives of this study are to identify the daily activity budget of P. neglectus in Kampung Johor Lama, Kota Tinggi, Johor, and also identify the potential of primate-based tourism in Kampung Johor Lama. Scan sampling was employed to record activity budget of P. neglectus. A total of 16 individuals of P. neglectus were observed in Kampung Johor Lama. A total of 8400 minutes of observation time was obtained. On average, P. neglectus spent most of their time resting (36.85%), moving (35.65%) and feeding (21.79%)The potential of PrimaTourism were assessed based on questionnaire distributed among local people in Kampung Johor Lama. Local people expressed their willingness to be involve in PrimaTourism activities and believe that this will serve as their alternative source of income and also sustainable well-being of the species in the area.

Preliminary assessment of group composition and activity pattern of the critically endangered Bornean Banded Langur Presbytis chrysomelas chrysomelas in Tanjung Datu National Park

“…Compared to other studies ( Matsuda et al 2009 , Ehlers Smith et al 2013 , Abdul-Latiff et al 2019 , Siti-Kauthar et al 2019 , Najmuddin et al 2020 , Akbar et al 2021 , Santoso et al 2023 ) social activities such as grooming, mating, playing, and agonistic were not recorded in this study. It might be due to several factors, including the dense forest canopy at the study site, which limit observers vision and make it difficult to observe primate behaviours.…”

“…Vocalization took up 14% of the day in this study compared to only 1.73% and 4% in P. femoralis ( Abdul-Latiff et al 2019 , Najmuddin et al 2020 ), 0.8% in T. obscurus ( Siti-Kauthar et al 2019 ) and 3.89% in T. obscurus ( Md-Zain and Ch'ng 2011 ). Presbytis chrysomelas chrysomelas often initiates vocalizations in the early morning before leaving their sleeping tree, to communicate with other group members and coordinate foraging activities.…”

“…Comparatively, the Bornean banded langur spend more time feeding (26%) than other closely related species such as P. femoralis , which allocate 21% of their time to feeding ( Abdul-Latiff et al 2019 ), 12.1% for T. cristatus ( Akbar et al 2021 ) and 12.6 % for T. obscurus ( Siti-Kauthar et al 2019 ). The diet of langur in this survey consisted mostly of leaves (81%) such as Resak Laru ( Vatica pauciflora ) and Mengkudu Besar ( Morinda citrifolia ) and 19% of fruits, notably Kerueh ( Lophopetalum pallidum ).…”

Dietary habits of free-ranging banded langur (Presbytis femoralis) in a secondary-human modified forest in Johor, Malaysia

“…This type of tourism and education has succeeded in protecting other colobines (e.g., Lhota et al 2019a, Lhota et al 2019b) and thus provides a useful tool for protecting P. femoralis as well. However, a comprehensive framework must be designed for this tourism product, especially on prevention of provisioning by visitors which can trigger human-animal conflict and have negative long-term effects on the species conservation as animals are often overhabituated (e.g., Badiella-Giménez et al 2021, Mohd-Daut et al in press, Russon and Wallis 2014), though our preliminary studies show the local people willingness to adopt this species as nature tourism product to generate local economy (Abdul-Latiff et al 2019b, c).…”