First Population Assessment Report, Suitable Habitat and Ecological Corridors of the Endangered Kashmir Gray Langur Morphotype ( Semnopithecus ajax , Pocock 1928) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Bibliographic Data
The Himalayan Kashmir langur ( Semnopithecus ajax ) is an endangered colobine of the northwestern Himalayas, occurring in India and Pakistan; yet its ecology remains poorly studied. In Pakistan, it is known from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the northern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) but populations restricted to KPK has been neglected until the data. In this regard, we conducted 60 line‐transect surveys (118.2 km) across 69.5 km2 in three KPK districts—Mansehra, Kohistan, and Battagram—to estimate population density and abundance. Further, we modeled habitat suitability and connectivity modeling of langurs across its known range in Pakistan. The current study revealed mean density across the surveyed districts was 4.5 individuals/km2 (95% CI: 2.3–6.7), with substantially higher densities in Mansehra (7.4; 95% CI: 3.3–11.5) compared to Kohistan–Battagram (KB) (1.3; 95% CI: 0.1–2.5). The total population in the study area was estimated at 314 individuals (95% CI: 143–485), with ~86% concentrated in Mansehra. Habitat suitability modeling (AUC = 0.96) identified four major suitable niche zones (SNZ) (~2,953 km2) across Pakistan, primarily montane forests between 1,300–3,100 m with > 40% canopy cover, though only ~82 km2 (~1%) overlapped with existing protected areas. Connectivity analysis indicated forested corridors linking these niche zones, while fragmentation reduced connectivity in several regions. Our findings demonstrate that the langur persists in Pakistan as a small, fragmented, and forest‐dependent population. Conservation of this threatened species will require improved forest protection, management of habitat corridors, and coordinated transboundary conservation efforts across its Himalayan range
Conservation status · Endangered species · Habitat · Habitat destruction · National park · Population · Population density · Population size · Range (aeronautics) · Threatened species · Amphibian and Reptile Biology · Species Distribution and Climate Change · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Counting primates for conservation
Ranging and foraging of Himalayan grey langurs (Semnopithecus ajax) in Machiara National Park, Pakistan
Selecting pseudo‐absences for species distribution models
Impending extinction crisis of the world’s primates
An introduction to ROC analysis
Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions
Collinearity
The use of the area under the ROC curve in the evaluation of machine learning algorithms
Simple Features for R
A global strategy for road building
WorldClim 2
A new look at the statistical model identification
High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change
Asian primates in fragments
Population assessment of the Endangered Kashmir Gray Langur ( Semnopithecus ajax , Pocock 1928) using the double‐observer method
Socioeconomic Contexts of Primate Conservation
Western Purple-faced Langurs (Semnopithecus vetulus nestor) Feed on Ripe and Ripening Fruits in Human-modified Environments in Sri Lanka
Design and Analysis of Line Transect Surveys for Primates
Dietary Diversity and Food Selection in Hanuman Langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) and Purple-Faced Langurs (Trachypithecus vetulus) in the Kaludiyapokuna Forest Reserve in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |