The Habitat Foundation is proud to have been a supporter of Langur Project Penang, an innovative citizen science project helping to educate the public to understand the challenges facing Penang’s captivating dusky langurs.

Jo Leen Yap, a promising young primatologist, has been spearheading Langur Project Penang to study the ecology and behaviour of dusky langurs in Penang since 2016. Dusky langurs spend most of their time feeding and sheltering on tall trees but they also need to cross the road from the forest to the coast to forage for plants that are important to their diet. The lack of tree connectivity means dusky langurs are at higher risk of casualty due to falling from cables or getting hit by vehicles.

LPP has shown itself to be an effective outreach tool, after having successfully organised and been apart of numerous nature education and awareness programmes including talks, workshops, festivals, science events and school and university outreach. The project has served as an important platform in Penang to educate the local community about wildlife in urban settings while promoting empathy and support for these species.

Through its citizen-science approach, LPP has also collected invaluable data on dusky langurs and other native arboreal wildlife in Penang. The interaction with the local community has established a long-term road ecology project where residents act as collaborators and volunteers in collecting dusky langur crossing hotspots. This translates into further awareness-raising and pragmatic steps to lower dusky langur mortality rates, such as the installation of a canopy bridge above the busy coastal road in Teluk Bahang.

LPP, in close collaboration with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, has already established itself as one of the main contact points for human-primate conflict and roadkill-related issues in Penang. Looking forward, LPP hopes to further introduce more canopy crossings between fragmented patches of trees as well as near residential areas.