Today, our focus is on the Proboscis Monkey. (Nasalis Larvatus). It is a red brownish monkey endemic to Borneo, mainly in mangrove forests, swamps and riparian forests.

Appearance wise, it has a long protruding nose and a very large belly. The male Proboscis monkey is very much bigger than the females and its differences in body types between the male and the females is larger compared to any other primate. The male Proboscis monkey can reach 28 inches in length, a 75cm tail and weighs up to 28 kg. The females are up to 60 cm long and weighs about 12 kg. Proboscis Monkeys live in small groups of about 10-32 animals.

Interesting facts about the Proboscis Monkey:

• they are good swimmers
• they are very shy animals
• they don’t fare well in captivity as they can become depressed and soon die
• the make leaders of the pack would be found at the highest part of the tree
• they can make a wide range of sounds such as roars, grunts and squeals

The green section of the map are the rough distribution of the Proboscis Monkey. IUCN classified the Proboscis monkey under its red list of ‘Endangered’. It’s now up to us to prevent it from extinction! As travellers, we should visit National Parks that maintains the natural habitat of Proboscis Monkeys instead of zoos that force the Proboscis Monkeys to adapt in an environment that’s not familiar to them!

The Proboscis Monkey will be featured soon in the Yogyakarta Travel Guide.