Advancements in molecular and phylogenetic analysis have revealed the need for greater taxonomic resolution since Rangifer (Reindeer and caribou: Cervidae) was last revised in 1961. Recent literature shows that many of the subspecies and several species synonymised out of existence are, in fact, valid, some names have been misapplied, and new subspecies-level clades are in need of description. This paper reviews available names for recently defined ecotypes of reindeer and caribou in compliance with ICZN rules for zoological nomenclature.

In reviewing the genetic, morphological, behavioural, and ecological distinctiveness of caribou throughout Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) (2011) divided “Southern Mountain caribou” (c.f. COSEWIC 2002) into three designatable units (DU) for conservation purposes: Northern Mountain (DU7), Central Mountain (DU8), and Southern Mountain (DU9) populations of woodland caribou. These new designations mean that each is considered a “wildlife species” according to the Species at Risk Act. Recent federal and provincial government reports refer to “Southern Mountain caribou,” conflating Southern Mountain, Central Mountain, and nine of the 45 subpopulations of Northern Mountain caribou into one pseudo-population, with clear conservation consequences. For example, in 2018, a federal decision on an emergency order required the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to ascertain whether there were immediate threats to the survival or recovery of the Southern Mountain population of woodland caribou. By conflating two ecotypes and part of another into “Southern Mountain caribou”—an obsolete, geographical grouping not used since2002—ECCC’s assessment falsely informed the Minister that there were 3,764 “Southern Mountain caribou,” when in fact there were only 1,240 in the Southern Mountain (DU9)mpopulation. Other errors arising from the first distorted the number and trajectories of extant subpopulations. Instead of issuing the emergency order, the Minister entered into protracted negotiations with the province on recovery planning that continue at this writing. The nomenclatural ambiguity can be resolved by 1) using the currently accepted taxonomy naming Osborn’s caribou a valid subspecies, R. t. osborni, instead of Northern Mountain population of woodland caribou, 2) using original English names for Mountain caribou and Rocky Mountain caribou, and 3) basing conservation actions on these distinct phylogenetic units as per COSEWIC (2011, 2014).

Mountain caribou, a behaviourally and genetically distinct set of ecotypes of the Woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou ) restricted to the mountains of western Canada, have undergone severe population declines in recent decades. Although a broad consensus exists that the ultimate driver of these declines has been the reduction of habitat upon which mountain caribou depend, research and policy attention has increasingly focused on predation. Recently, Serrouya et al. (Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 116:6181–6186, 2019) analysed population dynamics data from 18 subpopulations in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, subject to different treatments and ‘controls’, and concluded that lethal wolf control and maternal caribou penning provide the most effective ways to stabilize population declines. Here we show that this inference was based on an unbalanced analytical approach that omitted a null scenario, excluded potentially confounding variables and employed irreproducible habitat alteration metrics. Our reanalysis of available data shows that ecotype identity is a better predictor of population trends than any adaptive management treatments considered by Serrouya et al. Disparate behavioural characteristics and responses to industrial disturbance among ecotypes suggest it may be incorrect to assume that adaptive management strategies that might benefit one ecotype are transferable to another.

Rhinopithecus bieti Milne-Edwards, 1897 is 1 of the largest and most northerly colobine monkeys. It lives at the highest recorded elevations for a nonhuman primate, 2,625–4,700 m. It has a restricted range between the Yangtze and Mekong Rivers in Yunnan and Xizang (Tibet) Provinces, mainland of China, in 15–20 groups comprising 6 isolated populations. It lives in multimale–multifemale bands of up to 480 individuals comprising cohesive 1-male units of < 20 individuals in nonoverlapping home ranges. Bands may have 1 or more all-male units. Mating and parturition are seasonal. With a total population of about 3,500, it is 1 of the most endangered primates and is listed as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Nasalis larvatus (von Wurmb, 1781), proboscis monkey, is the only member of its genus and is the largest colobine monkey. It has a uniquely large nose in males. It occurs in lowland riverine forests, peat swamps, and mangrove swamps of Borneo. It is a strong swimmer and can swim underwater. A folivore, it lives in single male-multifemale troops or all-male groups, in a multilevel social system. Male dispersal is routine and females commonly transfer among groups. It is listed as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and is included in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

After decades of endangered species protection and conservation success, poachers are staging a come–back. Most people in Europe and North America just don’t believe that rhinoceros horn, monkey meat, tiger penis or bear bile have any curative or health properties, but millions of people in East Asia and Southeast Asia believe otherwise. This cultural predilection is driving extinction. As repugnant as it is to those living outside the range of non–human primates, monkey meat provides a much–needed source of protein in some circumstances—but not enough to justify their extinction. There is no such nutritional excuse for poaching tigers, bears or rhinoceros. Since the start of 2008, at least 1800 white rhinoceroses and a few of the rarer black rhinoceroses have been killed in South Africa for their horns, most smuggled into Vietnam and China.

In February 2012 one of us (Han) led an ecotour to Nankang Nature Reserve, west of the Nujiang (Salween) River, Baoshan Prefecture, Yunnan, and saw giant flying squirrels in the evening near the Nature Reserve headquarters. After hearing this, the Nature Reserve rangers began to take evening walks along the highway watching for flying squirrels, eventually discovering a mineral lick. In retrospect, the first observation in 2012 was evidently when the giant flying squirrels were approaching the lick site. On 24 February 2013 we observed the giant flying squirrels for about two hours, from 22:00 hr to midnight, as they approached the lick and returned from it.

Official journal of the Taprobanica Private Limited, Homagama, Sri Lanka and Research Centre for Climate Change, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.Taprobanica is no longer accepting submissions on SLJOL. To submit your manuscript, please go to http://taprobanica.org/

Baron Friedrich van Wurmb (1781) is credited with the first description of the proboscis monkey, endemic to Borneo, which he named Cercopithecus [now Nasalis] larvatus. This was in a paper read to The Society of Batavia, modern day Jakarta, Indonesia, and later published in the Society’s Memoirs. But he was not the first.

Abstract:  Nomascus leucogenys (Ogilby, 1840) is a crested gibbon of northern Vietnam, northern Laos, and southern China. Males are black with white cheeks and females are a rich buff color with a dark brown sagittal crest. It is among the largest of hylobatids (except siamang) and has unusually long arms for a hylobatid. Its diet includes fruits, leaves, small animals, and flowers. It is territorial and lives with stable pair-bonds in nuclear families consisting of a male and female and their offspring. It is “Critically Endangered,” possibly extirpated from China with only isolated populations remaining in Laos and Vietnam.

Adult male and female orang-utans are usually described as solitary (Delgado Jr & Van Schaik, 2000; Galdikas, 1985; Poole, 1987; Rodman & Mitani, 1987; Weiss et al., 2006), the female providing the only infant care, as far as is known. Adult males, which are twice the size of adult females, do not associate with females except for sex; adult males may associate with subadult males, but not for companionship: it usually involves competition for a receptive female (Delgado Jr & Van Schaik, 2000; Galdikas, 1985; Mitani et al., 1991; Schürmann & van Hooff, 1986). At least, this is the conventional wisdom. While on a wildlifewatching trip to Sabah, Borneo, May 21 to June 5, 2011, the orang-utan groups that Jeffrey Harding and I saw in the wilds of Borneo followed this pattern: mature males alone or unaccompanied females with young. But once, in a semi-wild setting (a large, protected primary forest with a population of orang-utans accommodated to humans), we were watching a female with an infant as they foraged in the trees (Fig. 1). After half an hour of quiet observation, we noticed a mature male approaching. We had seen him earlier about 100 meters away, approaching from a different direction. Although mature and larger than the female, the male was not an old one with flat cheek pads. The female, who was nursing and therefore could not have been in estrus, stopped foraging and watched the male approach with seeming casual interest.

Official journal of the Taprobanica Private Limited, Homagama, Sri Lanka and Research Centre for Climate Change, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.Taprobanica is no longer accepting submissions on SLJOL. To submit your manuscript, please go to http://taprobanica.org/

Trachypithecus cristatus (Silvered Leaf Monkey or Silvered Lutung) occur on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and nearby islands and live mainly in uni-male, female-bonded groups. This study presents preliminary data on social behaviours for Silvered Leaf Monkey in captivity. Behavioural observations were conducted on one group (one adult male, four adult females, three juvenile males and four juvenile females). Data were collected on 30 of the 60 calendar days at the National Zoological Gardens, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka. All behaviours including agonistic and dominance-related, locomotion, feeding and infant-related behaviours were included in the analysis. Unlike in wild populations, we found a clear dominance hierarchy among females. Key words: Trachypithecus cristatus; Captive Behaviour; Dominance; Hierarchy; Langur; Sri Lanka.DOI: 10.4038/tapro.v1i1.2781TAPROBANICA, April, 2009. Vol. 01, No. 01: pp. 66-73

Rare mammals recorded in Borneo -MalaysiaWhile on a wildlife-watching trip to Sabah, Borneo, May 21 to June 5, 2011, Jeffrey Harding and I saw several rare and endangered mammal species whose distributions are not well known.Following is a list of the rarest ones with notes on location, elevation, and conservation status.Elevations were taken with a Barigo altimeter.Conservation

Trachypithecus delacouri (Osgood, 1932), commonly called Delacour's langur or lutung, is a black and white lutung (leaf monkey) endemic to northern Vietnam. It is a diurnal and primarily arboreal species, but spends more time on the ground than other species of Trachypithecus. T. delacouri lives among limestone cliffs and consumes the leaves of a broad spectrum of plant species but its choice of food items tends to be based on the chemical makeup of the plant phenophases with protein content the strongest predictor of leaf selection. Territorial, but with overlapping territories, it usually lives in single-male-multifemale groups of 5–30, although 2 adult males may be present. With a declining population perhaps as low as 200 individuals in 17 or fewer isolated populations, it is 1 of the world's most endangered primates.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tapro.v3i1.3235 TAPROBANICA, April, 2011. Vol. 03, No. 01: pp. 47-48