PrimaTourism: Plant selection by Schlegel's Banded Langur Presbytis neglectus in Johor - IOPscience
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IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
PAPER • OPEN ACCESS
PrimaTourism: Plant selection by Schlegel’s Banded Langur Presbytis
neglectus in Johor
To cite this article: M F Najmuddin et al 2019 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 269 012036
View the article online for updates and enhancements.
This content was downloaded from IP address 46.4.80.155 on 20/10/2020 at 07:25
International Conference on Biodiversity 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 269 (2019) 012036 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/269/1/012036
PrimaTourism: Plant selection by Schlegel’s Banded Langur
Presbytis neglectus in Johor.
M F Najmuddin1, H Haris1, R Shahrool-Anuar2 N Norazlimi1, B M Md-Zain3, M
A B Abdul-Latiff1*
1
Centre of Research for Sustainable Uses of National Resources, Faculty of Applied
Sciences and Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, KM1 Jalan
Panchor,84600, Muar, Johor, Malaysia
2
Panz Green Resources, 535, Air Tawar 5, 81900 Kota Tinggi, Johor.
3
School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and
Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Email: latiff@uthm.edu.my
Abstract. Schlegel’s Banded Langur, P. neglectus is an understudied primate species in Johor.
However, no data were recorded on the species feeding ecology from previous study. This study
aims to assess the food selection of P. neglectus in Kampung Johor Lama, Kota Tinggi, Johor.
Observations were made using scan sampling techniques and identification of plants was made
using dichotomous key to record and identify the plants eaten by P. neglectus in Kampung Johor
Lama, Kota Tinggi, Johor. 27 species of plants were recorded from 17 families during 2 months
of observation starting from July 2018 to August 2018. Plant species found in the area comprises
of a mixture of mangroves plants, orchard plants, pioneer forest plants and others. A notable
plants species selected by P. neglectus includes pome trees, Nephelium lappaceum, commodity
plants, Elaeis guineensis and Hevea brasiliensis, mangrove plants, Rhizophora mucronate,
pioneer tree species, Macaranga gigantea and others. Plants selected by P. neglectus in this
study suggested a viable adaptation to human settlement in Kampung Johor Lama.
1. Introduction
Subfamily Colobines are distributed in southeast Asia and Africa, feeding naturally on leaves, fruits and
seeds, which contain high amounts of fibre [1,2]. A total of ten species under subfamily Colobinae are
distributed in Malaysia [3]. Genus Nasalis represented by proboscis monkey, Nasalis larvatus which is
endemic in Borneo [3]. Two species of Trachypithecus commonly found in Malaysia are dusky leaf
monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus) and silvered leaf monkey (Trachypithecus cristatus) [3]. Genus
Presbytis are the most diverse genus of primates in Malaysia up to seven species which are Presbytis
femoralis, Presbytis siamensis, Presbytis neglectus, Presbytis rubicunda, Presbytis hosei, Presbytis
chrysomelas, and Presbytis frontata [3,4,5,6]. Schlegel’s Banded Langur, P. neglectus or known as
‘Lutong cenekah Schlegel’ was recently elevated to distinct species classification by Abdul-Latiff et al.,
[6] based on molecular approach. P. neglectus previously known as P. f. femoralis are distributed in
Johor and marginally in Singapore [5,7]. The species is listed as near threatened (NT) by IUCN because
of threats from habitat loss due to conversion of forest to oil palm plantation, bushmeat for aborigines
and actively involved in human-wildlife conflict [4].
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1International Conference on Biodiversity 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 269 (2019) 012036 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/269/1/012036
Figure 1. Schlegel’s banded langur resting on N. lappaceum tree.
Langurs diet is usually consisting of young leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds [1]. Matsuda in 2009 [8] in
his observation on proboscis monkey, N. larvatus in Sabah found out that the diet consists of 55
families,127 genera, and 188 plant species [8]. He found that the proboscis monkey also consumed
young leaves, fruits, flowers, mature leaves and other types of food. On the other hand, the silver leaf
monkey, T. cristatus, was found out to have 91% of their diet consisting of leaves, while the remaining
9% made up of fruits [9]. Maroon langur, P. rubicunda spent 46% of their feeding time on young leaves,
38% on seeds, 12% on whole fruits, 2.0% on flowers, 1.0% on bark, and 1.2% on pith [10]. Banded
surili, P. siamensis was recorded feeding on 42.8% fruit, 42.6% leaves, and 14.6% flowers in Kuala
Lompat, Pahang [11]. Davies et al., [12] in his study on P. siamensis and P. rubicunda found that both
species spent half their time feeding leaves, and about half their time eating fruits and seeds. Previous
study on banded surili, P. siamensis suggest that they would come to the ground although primarily
arboreal to forage fruits of the species Castanopsis megacarpa and Garcinia parvifolia [13].
We coined the word PrimaTourism from the branch of primate-based tourism and we defined it as a
form of responsible visit to natural or artificial areas to observe, learn and appreciate primates in which
it significantly contributes to sustainable conservation of primates. PrimaTourism demand evolutionary,
ecology and behaviour data of certain species of primates to develop its content for interpretation. Before
the package could be introduced to visitors, the primates itself should be understood and assessed by
scientific research. Study on food preference of leaf monkey for example, will provide insight on the
ecological needs of the primates.
However, there is no research on the food preference of P. neglectus in Johor until now. Thus, the
aim for this research is to study the food selection of the P. neglectus and to see potential of
PrimaTourism in Kampung Johor Lama, Kota Tinggi, Johor. Kampung Johor Lama was chosen as the
location for this study because of good visibility of Schlegel’s banded langur in the village as reported
by the villagers.
2. Methodology
Visual observations were carried out to observe the all-male P. neglectus group in Kampung Johor
Lama, Kota Tinggi, Johor using scan sampling technique [14]. Observation were conducted from dusk
to dawn or precisely from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm for 6 days per week. The observations began in July 2018
to August 2018. Observations were aided by binocular and Canon 60D digital single lens reflect (DSLR)
2International Conference on Biodiversity 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 269 (2019) 012036 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/269/1/012036
camera with Canon EF 70-300mm F4-5.6 L lens. Data for feeding behaviour will be recorded with
interval of 5 min during observation. Information on sightings of the Schlegel’s banded langurs was
provided by the villagers. Tracking started after dusk in the village when observers started walking.
Once spotted, P. neglectus will be followed until dawn, lost in sight or they had surpassed the area
boundary, then the observation will be stopped. A total of 140 hours of observation were recorded, with
up to 20 days of sampling effort. The boundary of the study area around the village shown in the figure
1.
Figure 2. Location of Kampung Johor Lama, Kota Tinggi, Johor.
2.1 Study site
The study was conducted in Kampung Johor Lama, Kota Tinggi Johor. It is located beside Sungai
Johor with mangroves lining along the river. This village is 72 km away from largest city in southern
Peninsular Malaysia, Johor Bahru. The setting is common village setup in Malaysia with houses
scattered from each other. The area is dominated with palm oil plantation extending across the village.
The village has mixed vegetation of mangrove forest, oil palm plantation, lowland forest with fruit
orchard grown by villagers.
2.2 Herbarium specimen
The herbarium specimens were collected based on the observation of the Schlegel’s banded langur
feeding activity. The trees selected by P. neglectus for feeding were marked and the leaves were
collected for herbarium specimen. The following steps are normally involved in preparing a voucher
specimen from start to finish: locate the plant, prepare the plant for pressing, record geographical and
other data in a field notebook, press the specimen, dry the specimen, identify the specimen, prepare the
label, mount the specimen, apply a serial accession number to the herbarium sheet, sort the specimens,
and file the specimen systematically into the herbarium respectively [15]. Identification of plants
species were aided with the local name for the plant then it will further be compared to existing record
and photographs.
3International Conference on Biodiversity 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 269 (2019) 012036 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/269/1/012036
3. Results
Schlegel’s banded langur was recorded to start their feeding as early as 7:36 am when the group was
found in the study area. The feeding regularly took two to three hours in the morning up until 10:00 am
and then the rate of feeding started to decreased into the afternoon. The group then retreated to shady
region of the trees. Garcinia mangostana and Nephelium lappaceum were chosen frequently as their
resting place in the mid-day. The trees also provide foods and good canopy cover. After mid-day, the
group was seen to start foraging continuously as early as 3:40 pm. In the evening during 5:00 pm to 7:00
pm, the group actively foraged and moved in between trees. P. neglectus was found to forage as late as
7:15 pm before observation stopped due to poor visibility.
Throughout the observation, 27 species from 17 families of plants had been identified. Table 1 below
shows the list of plant, family name and species name selected by P. neglectus in Kampung Johor Lama
as their food preference.
Table 1 Show list of plant selected by P. neglectus in Kampung Johor Lama, Kota Tinggi, Johor
Common local name Family name Species name
Kedondong Anacardiaceae Spondias dulcis
Pelam/Mangga Anacardiaceae Mangifera indica
Kelapa sawit Arecaceae Elaeis guineensis
Pancut-pancut Bignoniaceae Spathodea campanulata
Barat laut Celastraceae Cassine viburnifolia
Getah Euphorbiaceae Hevea brasiliensis
Pucuk Ubi Euphorbiaceae Manihot esculenta
Mahang Euphorbiaceae Macaranga gigantea
Sena Fabaceae Pterocarpus indicus
Petai Fabaceae Parkia speciosa
Manggis - Clusiaceae Garcinia mangostana
Kayu manis Lauraceae Cinnamomum verum
Bebaru Malvaceae Talipariti tiliaceum
Bunga raya Malvaceae Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Durian Malvaceae Durio zibethinus
Duku Meliaceae Lansium domesticum
Nyireh batu Meliaceae Xylocarpus moluccensis
Nangka Moraceae Artocarpus heterophyllus
Cempedak Moraceae Artocarpus integer
Ara jejawi Moraceae Ficus microcarpa
Jambu air Myrtaceae Syzygium aqueum
Pisang nipah Musaceae Musa acuminata x
balbisiana
Paku sakat ribu-ribu/duit-duit Polypodiaceae Pyrrosia piloselloides
Bakau kurap Rhizophoraceae Rhizophora mucronata
Rambutan Sapindaceae Nephelium lappaceum
Pulasan Sapindaceae Nephelium mutabile
Ciku Sapotaceae Manilkara zapota
4. Discussion
P. neglectus forage actively in the morning and dawn. The group was also seen foraging together with
long-tailed macaque, Macaca fascicularis in F. microcarpa tree. Long tailed macaque was noisy during
foraging and they forage in large number of individuals. This gives advantages to P. neglectus to blend
in along with the macaque to avoid predation and threat from villagers. Natural predation threat from
white bellied sea eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster and dog, Canis familiaris may influenced the choice of
4International Conference on Biodiversity 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 269 (2019) 012036 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/269/1/012036
G. mangostana as their foraging and resting site as the tree provides thick canopy cover. Study at Kuala
Selangor had shown long-tailed macaques together with silver leaf monkeys were frightened by both of
the predators [16,17,18]. This species retreats frequently within several days to mangrove forest when
being chased by observers or villagers. The mangrove forest serves as barrier as researcher or villagers
cannot enter it easily because of its adventurous terrain. The mangrove also served as food sources for
the P. neglectus for example R. mucronata has high salt content that can provide micronutrients for
herbivores [19,20].
In sense of PrimaTourism aspects, a foundation of knowledge can be translated through this study to
create interpretation or story-telling for P. neglectus. Passive interpretation includes signage to increase
awareness to visitors about P. neglectus [21]. Active interpretation such as storytelling and knowledge
transfer can spread awareness about food preference of P. neglectus and how to conserve the plants
species listed.
Kampung Johor Lama may well serve as viable habitat for P. neglectus population in that area due to
the food selected by the species in the village acting as their feeding patches. This is the first study that
reports on plant preferences by P. neglectus in Johor. Further study can focus on molecular forensic
application and genetics to understand the human-wildlife conflict [22,23,24,25]. Factors such as human
engagement, habitat fragmentation, canopy coverage, feeding ecology should be addressed too for
conservation purpose.
5. Conclusion
The 27 plants species chosen by Schlegel’s banded langur in Kampung Johor lama showed that the
habitat can serve as feeding patches for Schlegel’s banded langur to thrive in the area with the current
population. It is also suggested that P. neglectus may have adapted to habitat disturbance and human
settlement in Kampung Johor Lama. This findings will also help in developing PrimaTourism product
in the area.
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Acknowledgement
We are deeply indebted to Department of Wildlife and National Parks that provided us with the
necessary facilities and assistance for fecal sample collections. The authors acknowledge Universiti Tun
Hussein Onn Malaysia for providing necessary funding, facilities and assistance. The research was
conducted under research permit (JPHL&TN(IP):100-34/1.24 Jld 8). This research was supported by
GPPS-UTHM-U971-2017 provided by ORICC Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Knowledge
Transfer Programme (KTP) Grant KTP-PSH-2017 and FRGS/1/2018/WAB13/UTHM/03/2 by Ministry
of Education Malaysia.
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