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View all search resultsForest conversion threatens endemic Javan langur population
Monitoring conducted by Profauna Indonesia throughout 2025 recorded only nine groups with a total of 54 individuals.
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Two juvenile Javan langurs (Trachypithecus auratus) sit on a tree branch on the slope of Mount Arjuna in Batu, East Java, in this undated picture. The protected species continues to decline sharply due to forest conversion. (Courtesy of Profauna/-)
T
he population of the protected Javan langur (Trachypithecus auratus) on the slopes of Mount Arjuna in Batu and Karangploso, Malang, East Java, continues to decline sharply.
Monitoring conducted by Profauna Indonesia throughout 2025 recorded only nine groups with a total of 54 individuals. Of this number, only 10 were juveniles, identified by their distinctive golden-orange fur.
The latest figure marks a steep drop compared with a 2005 survey, when at least 20 groups were still found inhabiting Mt. Arjuna slopes.
The decline underscores the looming extinction threat for the endemic primate, which has been listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List since 2008 and included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Rosek Nursahid, founder of Profauna, said the conversion of forest areas into farmland was the main driver of the population decline.
“The conversion of forest into farmland has triggered the decline of Javan langurs on Arjuna. Many areas that used to be forest have now been turned into agricultural land,” he told The Jakarta Post on Dec. 31.
Rosek added that rampant poaching from the early 2000s until 2015 exacerbated the situation. Javan langurs were hunted for their meat despite being legally protected.
