Endemic to parts of Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia, and southern Thailand, this rare monkey stands as a symbol of Southeast Asia’s vanishing rainforests. It’s named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore and an avid naturalist who first described the species in the early 19th century. With its glossy black coat, white underparts, and distinctive white thigh bands, the Raffles’ banded langur is a vision of understated elegance—a quiet reminder that some of the most extraordinary creatures are also the most endangered.

It spends nearly all of its life high in the forest canopy, feeding mainly on young leaves, fruits, seeds, and flowers. Like other leaf monkeys, it has a specialized multi-chambered stomach filled with microbes that help digest fibrous plant matter—an adaptation that lets it thrive on a diet few other animals can stomach. Because of this slow, fermentation-based digestion, these langurs spend much of their day quietly resting or grooming rather than moving constantly.

Socially, Raffles’ banded langurs are highly social yet peaceful animals, usually living in small groups of five to fifteen individuals led by a dominant male. The group dynamic is calm and cooperative—adults often help care for infants, and social grooming is an important part of maintaining bonds. They communicate through soft calls, body postures, and facial expressions, though they are far less vocal than macaques or gibbons. Their quietness and preference for high forest canopies make them hard to spot, even in the few places where they still survive. In Singapore, the species was once thought to be nearly extinct, but small populations have managed to persist in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, making it one of the nation’s most critically endangered mammals.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Malaysia

2022

Singapore

70

Official estimate

CR

2022