SIMAKOBU
As part of our field research and conservation programme in Northern Siberut, which relies heavily on the support of and close interaction with local inhabitants, the opportunity arose for one of our team to passively attend a rare ceremonial hunt of S. concolor.
In the course of this hunt, which took place in an area that is not protected by SCP, three groups were hunted down and the majority of individuals were killed. We collected data on size and composition of these groups as well as physical characteristics of most of the individuals killed by the local hunters. Hence, we are able to present new data on group composition and individual physical characteristics from free ranging
Pig-tailed langurs (Simias concolor) locally known as Simakobu, living in a relatively undisturbed habitat in North Siberut.
S. concolor lives in relatively small social groups with usually one male and one or more females and offspring. S. concolor occurs in the few small remaining forest patches on the islands of North and South Pagai and Sipora, and in the large National Park on Siberut. It may still occur in a few forest patches on small islets off southern South Pagai Island. However, of the four Mentawai primates, Simias is the most sensitive to deforestation, having significantly lower densities in logged forests than in unlogged.