BONGAIGAON, Dec 26 - �Seuj Manikpur�, a leading wildlife conservation organization, has taken a slew of initiatives to preserve golden langurs in the Kakoijana Reserved Forest in Bongaigaon district. In this connection an awareness meeting was organised at Kakoijana Ujan Rabhapara, a hamlet attached to the forest, with the help of its residents.
Golden langurs are creamy-golden coloured and long-tailed endangered primate species was discovered by Cambridge educated Anglo-Indian naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee in 1953 in Bhutan. More than 500 golden langurs are now available in the Kakoijana Reserved Forest.
Mahidhar Ray, an activist of Seuj Manikpur, presented a keynote address in the meeting, which was chaired by Dipcharan Rabha, a native of the hamlet.
Anindita Chakravarty, lecturer of Bijni Science College, spoke on the need of growing food plants for the golden langurs to check their entry into the crop fields and people�s home yards.
Another resident of the hamlet, Ratneswar Rabha expressed his concern on the unnatural death of this endangered primate species due to electrocution by open power lines, road mishap while crossing the national highway.
An adult golden langur died due to electrocution on November 23 and another met his death while crossing the highway in the morning hours.
Participating in the meeting, nature activist Jaydeep Chakravarty asked the villagers to spray quinine solution to keep away the golden langurs from their crop fields.
Meghnidhi Dahal, Sub-divisional officer (Civil), North Salmara sub-division in the district, assured all the possible help in this conservation bid for flora and fauna of the reserved forest.
Birbrata Das Choudhury, a senior lecturer also presented bullet points on the issue of conservation of the golden langur and the biodiversity of the forest.
Nature activists Ashok Kumar Das, Nabajit Barman, Kingshuk Das Choudhury, AS Arif, DFO, Aie Velly Division, and many others spoke on the protection of the natural habitat of the golden langurs in the forest and promotion of eco-tourism in the area.