Kashmir Gray Langur

• Common Name: Chamba Sacred Langur
• Taxonomy Classification Year: 1928
• Monkey Size: 67.1 to 67.1 cm (26.4 to 26.4 in)
• Skin Color(s): Silvery-gray
• Habitat: Forests and subalpine scrublands
• Diet: Herbivorous
• Native Countries: India, Nepal

The Kashmir gray langur^[1] is an Old-World monkey, one of the species of langurs.

• They are showy primates, distinguished from other gray langurs by their immense size and darker forelegs and hind legs.
• The silver-gray fur coat that covers their limbs and back is silky and long.
• In contrast, the abdomen and chest are covered in white fur with a light-yellow tint.
• Dark eyes peer out from a beardless black face framed by a generous “puffy” silky white scarf that attempts to hide the monkey’s dark, beardless ears.
• The fingers are equipped with long and dark nails. The Kashmir gray langur’s long, non-prehensile tail, which arches over its back and curls around its head as it walks, seems to have the tip dipped in white paint like an artist’s brush.

• Populations of northern gray langurs (including Kashmir gray langurs) carry their tails arched over their backs and pointed forward when walking. Southern populations carry the tail pointing backward.
• The Kashmiri gray langur derives its scientific name, Semnopithecus ajax, from a character in the ancient Greek poem – The Iliad – set during the Trojan War.
• Wildlife researchers have observed considerable differences in the time male, female, and juvenile langurs spend socializing and foraging. Males appear to spend more time foraging and feeding than females, with juveniles spending most of their time in social activities such as games.
• At night, Kashmir gray langurs sleep in trees up to 12 m high between the highest branches.
• Unlike other Asiatic colobine monkeys, whose troops are led by one adult male, multiple females, and their young, groups of Kashmir gray langurs can include multiple males. All-male troops have also been observed.