JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH Journal homepage: www.jakraya.com/journal/jwr REVIEW ARTICLE Semnopithecus ajax Pocock, 1928 a Critically Endangered Species Struggling for Space and Survival in Nature Vikram Singh and DR Thakur Department of Biosciences, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. Abstract Kashmir grey langur Semnopithecus ajax Pocock, 1928 is a newly *Corresponding Author: assigned but endangered species restricted in its range with an extent of Vikram Singh occurrence of less than 5,000 square kilometres. In India this is mostly present in an area of less than 500 square kilometres, in a valley surrounded Email:
[email protected] by high peaks in Chamba and its occurrence is difficult to determine owing to taxonomic uncertainty. In this review paper we have tried to bring in Received: 14/08/2017 forefront the present status and potential threats endangering this species. Accepted: 07/09/2017 Keywords: Semnopithecus ajax , Habitat, Langur, Endangered species, Conservation. 1. Introduction (Madras grey langur) and S. e. thersites (Grey langur) India has long been known as one of the rich (Walker and Molur, 2004). However, in 2001, it was primate areas of the world, both in species diversity recommended that several distinctive former and population abundance. Fourteen species of subspecies should be given full species status and nonhuman primates occur in India-six species of accordingly seven species were recognized (Groves, macaques, five of langurs, two of loose, and one 2001, 2005) (Table 1). It is generally very difficult to species of gibbon (Southwick and Lindburg, 1986). In identify and differentiate the individual species from population abundance, Rhesus and Semnopithecus each other; mostly people consider all of these as S.