InterContinental Danang Builds Bridges for Red-Shanked Douc Langurs

Dark/Light Mode (22/05/23)  The InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort has built three monkey bridges, bamboo and rope structures that help the resident population of red-shanked douc langurs travel safely around the resort and access their favourite feeding grounds.

Famed for their striking scarlet legs and white beards, red-shanked douc langurs are one of the rarest primates on Earth and are classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Only around 2,000 remain in the wild in Vietnam, 1,500 of which are thought to live in the jungles of the Son Tra Peninsula, where they love to eat the young leaves of tropical almond trees.

A red-shanked douc langur using one of the ‘monkey bridges’ at the Inter-Continental Danang in Vietnam

Five families of red-shanked douc langurs are known to reside within the grounds of the 39-hectare resort, each with between five and 20 members. To help the communities thrive, InterContinental Danang, led by its Environmental Manager, Anthony Barker, is creating a network of bridges and ladders that let these arboreal animals move freely through the forest canopy, their preferred habitat.

Three new monkey bridges join the two already in place, providing these colourful creatures with safe, stress-free passages through the forest.

August and September are usually the months when baby red-shanked douc langurs are born, so the new bridges have been completed at a crucial time. The resort also plans to build more such bridges.

“At InterContinental Danang, we understand that we have a responsibility to preserve the precious ecosystems of the Son Tra Peninsula. One of the best ways to help protect the red-shanked douc langurs is to keep their migration routes open,” said Seif Hamdy, General Manager, InterContinental Danang. “Our monkey bridges act like aerial highways, letting them live, feed and breed in complete peace and safety. The bridges are not only used by red-shanked douc langurs, however; other native species such as macaques, squirrels and even civets have been seen using them, which shows how beneficial they are to our wildlife.”

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