23 December 2018

New Trip Report: Philippine Tarsiers and Vietnamese Langurs

Matt and Maureen Steer ‘s short report of a long trip.

Philippine Tarsier and Vietnamese Langurs, 2018: Matt and Maureen Steer’s notes from a seven week not a mammal watching trip. 10 species including some nice primates like Cat Ba, Hatinh and Delacour Langurs.

I am on a plane to Australia for the holidays. Wishing all mammal watchers a Happy Christmas/Mid Winter Solstice and a Happy New Year. All the beAst for 2019!

Jon

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5 Comments

  • 17 March 2024
    RobJansen

    Great report:) I would be interested in the tour operator at Cat Ba actually if you still have it 🙂

    • 17 March 2024
      danboyland

      Be aware that the population of Cat Ba langurs is extremely small and very sensitive to disturbance, so all tourism based around seeing them is illegal and the areas langurs are in are off limits to everyone. This does not stop some tour operators from seeking them out anyway. If an operator says it has permission to do this, then it is lying. If you are lucky, it is still possible to see them from a distance greater than 50 m on a general tour around the island, but you shouldn’t join a tour that is focussed specifically on looking for them.

      • 19 March 2024
        shortclaws

        Thanks for clarifying that, danboyland. The lady who helped organise our sighting of the langurs actually arranged it through a contact at the Langur project (he took us out in the boat, and we remained a respectable distance and didn’t stay long). This being Vietnam, I have absolutely no idea whether this was all above-board and approved, or whether it really shouldn’t have been allowed.

        Anyway, the lady’s name was Smiley and this is her site: https://catbapackagetour.com/top-menu/contact-us.html

        But just to be clear – I really am *not* sure whether this was a properly authorised excursion or whether her contact was doing her a sly favour on the side.

        • 19 March 2024
          shortclaws

          Hm. Just looking back over the email chain, she asked us on behalf of the Langur Project contact whether we were journalists or researchers. So… I think at least the contact was real. I very truthfully said that we weren’t, but they did the trip anyway. I did say that we write trip reports for mammalwatching.com… maybe that helped? : )

          • 19 March 2024
            danboyland

            Okay. That could be legit. Neahga Leonard (the director of the Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project) sometimes allows people to join in on a morning conservation trip to monitor the langurs. Usually he needs to learn more about the individual before providing this allowance. I think its usually reserved for people who are involved in conservation. There also needs to be advanced notice and a reasonable amount of flexibility to fit in with one of the trips. Maybe it was this?

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