At this time it is the  rainy season in the study area. Heavy showers in the afternoon and fogs in the morning obstruct the vision and activities of the survey team. Four team members with support from four local people divided into small teams to track the focal group of doucs and identify their daily path length and foods.

We spent more than a half of month (from the August 14^th to 31^st) to habituate the focal group that was comprised of10 individuals. We now can observe them from a short distance of 20 to 30m and occasionally we can approach even closer without disturbing the doucs. Sometimes, the adult male would show his canines threatening the “intruders” not to come any closer. In contrast some of the juveniles were very curious about what the survey team was doing and why they kept following the group day after day.

In order to study the behavior of this species we have to habituate them to ensure that our presence does not influence their behavior and activities. However, we are concerned about  what might happen to the habituated group if poachers come to this place after the study team finishes their study. At the moment, there are not enough forest rangers in this district to protect the animals. The proposed Elephant Species Conservation Area (at the same site) has yet to be officially established. Illegal logging continues in this area, especially after the Government built the Khe Dien Reservoir for Hydropower Production. While the road conditions are quite bad hindering the patrol activities of forest rangers as well as the study of the scientific team it seems to be advantageous for poachers and loggers. A participatory workshop on conservation and sustainable development should be held in the new district, Nong Son, to come up with ideas about suitable alternatives to these illegal activities to aid in the conservation of this globally critically endangered monkey.

We would like to introduce some photos of the gray-shanked doucs, its habitats and other animals recorded in Hon Mo Mountain.

The road to Ninh Phuoc Commune, Nong Son district. From this point, the survey team has to go an additional 15km by motorbike then one hour by boat on Khe Dien Reservoir to access the study site.

This is the habitat of the doucs. If appropriate actions are not applied it will disappear in the near future and flooding in the lower region is foreseen

The adult male threatens the “intruder” by loud call khuk...khuk...

The “intruder” seems to approach too close making the adult male annoyed while the female does not seems to be worry at all.

After several minute of observing the “intruder” the adult male is now less concerned

Baby and mum are resting

Ready to jump – Adult male in a posture before jumping over a large gap

Survey team members observing and recording the focal group of douc on the other slope

Variable squirrel Callosciurus finlaysoni – a rodent with high density at the study site

Pallas’s squirrel (Callosciurus erythraeus) with smaller body size

Black and white squirrel Ratufa bicolor a large  rodent. This species has just been listed on IUCN 2009 Threatened species list

Acanthosaura natalie a agamid lizard first described in 2006. This species is found only in central Vietnam and southern Laos