Ten Places to Spot 10 Unique Species of Monkeys in India

There are 15 species of monkeys found in India including the only ape Hoolock Gibbons,species of lutung, Macaque Monkeys and other primates such as Capped Langur, Nilgiri Langur, Golden Langur and Slow loris. Here is the list of 10 unique species of primates found in India and best places to spot them.

Hoolock Gibbons – Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary

Hoolock Gibbons is the only Ape of India and second largest of the gibbons, after the siamang, found only around the Brahmaputra river bed and east of the Dibang river in northeast India.

Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam contains India’s only gibbons as well as India’s only nocturnal primate, Bengal slow loris also other primates like eastern Assamese macaque and rhesus macaque.

Lion Tailed Macaque – Silent Valley National Park

Lion Tailed Macaque is endemic to the Western Ghats of India, around the upper canopy of tropical moist evergreen forest and in Silent Valley National Park.

The diurnal rainforest dweller is listed as Endangered and the Silent Valley National Park has the largest number of lion tailed macaque in South India as well as Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve.

Capped Langur – Nameri National Park

The capped langur Of India’s Northeast is a large long-tailed monkey, mostly found in the forest of southern Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and other states of North East India.

Nameri National Park in Assam and Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh are best place to spot unique Capped Langur in India along with clouded leopard and Himalayan black bear.

Nilgiri Langur – Nilgiri Hills

Nilgiri Langur is another most popular and unique species of monkey, only found in the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats. This primate also found in Kodagu region of Karnataka, Kodayar Hills in Tamil Nadu and other known hilly areas in Kerala.

Golden Langur – Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary

Gee’s golden langur is only found in a small region of Assam as well as in the Black Mountains of Bhutan, Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for the golden langur.

The golden langur and capped langur of Assam are the two most unique species of monkeys found in North East India and the golden langur is listed as one of the most endangered primate species of India.

Phayre’s Leaf Monkey – Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary

Phayre’s leaf monkey or Phayre’s langur is a lutung species feeds on leaves and found in forest of Tripura in North East India. Wildlife sanctuaries of Tripura are home to seven species of primates, highest number of primate species found in any Indian state.

Stump Tailed Macaque – Hollongapar Reserve Forest

The Stump Tailed Macaque is another most unique species of primate, found in south of the Brahmaputra river of Assam. Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary is one of the best place to spot Northern pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, Assamese macaque, capped langur and Bengal slow loris.

Arunachal Macaque – Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary

Arunachal Macaque is a large brown primate species native to Arunachal Pradesh and differ in terms of morphological variation from the Assam macaque.

This monkey is one of the highest dwelling primates in the world along with Tibetan macaque, bonnet macaque, Toque macaque and Assamese macaque.

Gray Langur – Nagarhole National Park

Gray Langur or Hanuman langur are the largest species of primate found in India, Also found at urban areas on the Indian subcontinent. Indian subcontinent is home to 6 species and subspecies of Gray langur, from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka and both the black-footed gray langur and Kashmir gray langur are considered threatened.

Northern Pig Tailed Macaque – Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary

Northern pig-tailed macaque found in India and Southeast Asia, mostly at the south of the Brahmaputra river in Assam and the range extends from Assam to Tripura as well as eastern Aruanchal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Other species of monkeys found in India are Arunachal Macaque, Bonnet Macaque, Assam Macaque, White Cheeked Macaque,Nicobar Long Tailed Macaque and most common Rhesus Macaque as well as 6 species of common gray langur or hanuman langur named as Tufted Gray Langur, Plains Gray Langur and Kashmir Gray Langur.