Dr. Rudy Rudran, Scientist Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, in Island, 16 November 2019, with this title “Sri Lanka’s purple-faced langur is among the world’s 25 most endangered non-human primates”
The IUCN’s Primate Specialist Group (PSG) has again included Sri Lanka’s purple-faced langur in its list of Primates in Peril. This listing provides details on the 25 most endangered non-human primates in the world and is published every two years. It has included the purple-faced langur since 2004, when the IUCN classified its western sub species as critically endangered due to extensive deforestation of its lowland rainforest habitat. Deforestation threatens the survival of this subspecies because it relies almost exclusively on tree canopies for movement and for its diet mainly of leaves.
