A Langur with an orange chest

 A thick carpet of withered leaves some decomposed losing their form, some stern and intact with a rustle. Tiny ground beetles hopping away from my steps, wriggly worm curling between the undercover, pale shades of mushrooms growing out from this leaf bed. Such busy was living below my boots. Above these was I walking amidst a dense forest, so dense that it never showed me the sun despite being a hot afternoon. I had to constantly reassure myself that it was day and not dusk while encountering pillars of sun rays that escaped the leafspaces of the canopy. Unfamiliar calls, creaking noise of the bamboo, damp intuitions of something staring at me filled up space. In a state of quandary, I maneuvered through this wild land. Slowly, consuming a lot of time did I reach a place that underlooked the towering continuous mountain ranges of the Western ghats. Many shades of green and a single shade of blue speckled with white were the natural hues that my eyes could perceive until the farthest end. I stood awestruck admiring the forest's purity.

Meanwhile, a tree nearby gave out a gentle wave from one of its branches this intrigued me, rest assured that there was something living behind the branch. I gathered courage and moved stealthily towards the tree with repeated furtive tilts of my body. A long, solid tail was seen, it sent chills straight down my spine, later saw a body that was pale brown and then its black palms. It slowly then sat at the edge of the solid branch. Its chest had a characteristic bright orange suffusion. The strong rays of the sun against his body made that orange coat gleam with glory. This encounter with the south western langur was indeed a prized sighting. I walked back looking at the sun settling behind the mountains and experiencing the breeze after the sundown.

                                                                                       

South Western Langur; Picture Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

                                                                                            

South Western Langur, subspecies with an orange chest coat; Picture Courtesy: getsetgo blog

Know more about the animal:

1. Langurs are primates belonging to the sub family Colobinae. They all by enlarge have long tails except the pig-tailed snub-nosed langur. They are all diurnal and take up shelter on tree tops during the night. All the young ones have a different coat in comparison with their adult members. 

2. They all are mainly adapted for a herbivorous diet. They have sacculated stomachs (meaning the stomach is compartmentalized) and take help from a range of beneficial microbes to digest the plant matter.

3. The communication in langur troop is diverse ranging from screams, hiccups, screeches, barks, grunts, honks and rumble. Likewise, they also have a great sense of hearing that help them keep away from the predators. 

4. The Southwestern langur is now called the Black-footed gray langur.