Simias concolor

Taxonomy (Name)

Picture

Distribution, Range

This species is endemic to Indonesia. It is confined to the Mentawai Islands off the western coast of Sumatra (Pagai Selatan, Pagai Utara, Siberut, Sipora, and a few offshore islets).
S. s. concolor
Occurs in the Mentawai Archipelago (Pagai Selatan, Pagai Utara, Sipora, and the nearby islets of Simalegu and Sinakak).
S. s. siberu
Occurs in the Mentawai Archipelago (Siberut).

IUCN

Map

Country

Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Myanmar
Mongolia
Philippines
Singapore
Republic of Korea
Thailand
Vietnam

Status

International Status

IUCN Red List Category

CRIUCN

Justification

Listed as Critically Endangered as it was estimated a population decline of 73?90% in 10 years due to heavy hunting pressure and extensive habitat loss (especially on southern islands but quite significant throughout species range). It has been relatively well studied and thus documentation is fairly recent and intensive (Whittaker 2006). However, there is need for further extensive research across the entire range.

IUCN

CITES

CMS

National Status

Ecology Discription

Appearance

Habitat

This species is found in swamp forests and lowland rainforests (Tenaza 1987), as well as primary forests on the hillsides of the interior region of the islands (Tilson 1977).

IUCN

Population size

The Siberut subspecies has the largest population size, with an estimated 6,000-15,500 individuals within Siberut National Park. The southern subspecies is urgently in need of protective measures, with a total population of 700-1,800 individuals (Whittaker 2006). The current estimate for the species as a whole is therefore from 6,700 to 17,300 individuals, down from an estimated population of 26,000 in 1980. This represents a decline of 33 to 75% in 20 years. The most recent surveys of this species estimated densities from 5 individuals/km2 in unlogged forest, to 2.5 individuals in forest patches logged 20 years ago (Paciulli 2004). The mean population density for this species was estimated at 21 individuals/km2 in 1994 (Tenaza and Fuentes 1995). This would indicate a decline of 73 to 90% in 10 years (Whittaker 2006).

IUCN

Behavior

Diet

It is diurnal, semi-terrestrial, and primarily folivorous (D. Whittaker pers. comm.).

IUCN

Reproduction

The birth season is from June to July (Tilson 1977).

IUCN

Threat

Major Threat(s)

This species is threatened mainly by heavy hunting and commercial logging (Whittaker 2006). It is also threatened by conversion to oil palm plantations, and forest clearing and product extraction by local people (Whittaker 2006).
Recently, hunting pressure has increased because of improved access to remote areas due to logging roads and tracks, as well as the replacement of bows and arrows with 177 caliber air rifles (Whittaker 2006). Also, local rituals and taboos that formerly regulated hunting have been replaced by Christianity (Whittaker 2006). S. concolor is the preferred game species of most Mentawai hunters (Mitchell and Tilson 1986; Fuentes 2002; Paciulli 2004). Tenaza (1989) estimated that twice as many individuals are killed by hunters each year as are born in the Pagai Islands. Animals are sometimes taken for the pet trade.

IUCN

Conservation and Measurement

International

This species is listed on CITES Appendix IIUCN

National

This species is protected by the Indonesian law. It currently occurs in only one officially protected area (Siberut National Park), and is never seen in captivity (M. Richardson pers. comm.). Whittaker (2006) suggests the following conservation actions: ?1) increased protection for Siberut National Park, which currently lacks enforcement, 2) formal protection of the Peleonan forest in North Siberut, which is home to unusually high primate populations and is easily accessible, 3) protection of areas in the Pagai Islands by cooperating with a logging corporation that has practiced sustainable logging technique there since 1971, 4) conservation education, especially regarding hunting, and 5) the development of alternative economic models for the local people to reduce the likelihood of selling off their lands to logging companies.?

IUCN

Conservation law

Protected Area

Siberut National ParkIUCN

Other Coservation Projects

Citation

Fuentes, A. 2002. Monkeys, humans and politics in the Mentawai Islands: no simple solutions in a complex world. In: A. Fuentes and L. D. Wolfe (eds), Primates Face to Face: Conservation Implications of Human-Nonhuman Primate Interactions, pp. 187-207. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Groves, C. P. 2001. Primate taxonomy. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA.

Mitchell, A. and Tilson, R. 1986. Restoring the balance: Tradtitional hunting and primate conservation in the Mentawai islands, Indonesia. In: J. Else and P. Lee (eds), Primate ecology and conservation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and London, UK.

Paciulli, L. 2004. The effects of logging, hunting, and vegetation on the densities of the Pagai, Mentawai Islands primates. Thesis, State University of New York.

Paciulli, L., Fuentes, A. and Konstant, W. R. 2005. Pagai Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Monkey or Simakobu, Simias concolor Miller, 1903. In: R. A. Mittermeier, C. Valladares-Padua, A. B. Rylands, A. A. Eudey, T. M. Butynski, J. U. Ganzhorn, R. Kormos, J. M. Aguiar and S. Walker (eds), Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates 2004-2006, pp. 25-26. Report to IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS) and Conservation International (CI), Washington, DC, USA.

Tenaza, R. 1987. The status of primates and their habitats in the Pagai Islands, Indonesia. Primate Conservation 8: 104-110.

Tenaza, R. and Fuentes, A. 1995. Monandrous social organization of pigtailed langurs (Simias concolor) in the Pagai Islands, Indonesia. International Journal of Primatology 16(2): 295?310.

Tilson, R. L. 1977. Social organization of Simakobu monkeys (Nasalis concolor) in Siberut Island, Indonesia. Journal of Mammalogy 58: 202-212.

Whittaker, D. 2006. A conservation action plan for the Mentawai primates. Primate Conservation 20: 95-105.

Whittaker, D., Morales, J. and Melnick, D. 2006. Molecular phylogenetic affinities of the simakobu monkey (Simias concolor). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39: 887-892.

IUCN