Endangered Primate Rescue Center


Endangered Primate Rescue Center is located in Cuc Phuong National Park, Ninh Binh province, in Vietnam's Red River Delta. 
The Center is one of the first animal rescue centers in Vietnam and one of the largest primate rescue centers in Southeast Asia. It is a non-profit project aiming at rescuing, rehabilitation, breeding, research and conservation of endangered primate species in Vietnam.

History

In 1991, Tilo Nadler came to Vietnam to make a documentary film about Delacour's Langur. On this trip, he saw the threats that endangered primate species were facing.  In 1992, Frankfurt Zoological Society called for help from specialists to perform a langur conservation project in Vietnam and Tilo Nadler volunteered for this project. 
Starting from March of 1993, Tilo Nadler built EPRC Vietnam and became the Director of the rescue center in Cuc Phuong National Park.  Currently EPRC Vietnam is managed under Vietnam Primate Conservation Program and it is operated by Zoo Leipzig and Cuc Phuong National Park.  Tilo Nadler has retired from the center, and it is now run by contracted Directors from Zoo Leipzig.

Facilities

At the present, EPRC Vietnam has more than 48 large enclosures, 2 electric-fenced semi-wild areas. The semi-wild areas are built to prepare qualified animals to be released into the wild. They also help researchers to study the behavior of primates changing from captivity to a semi-wild area. There are enclosures with heated housing specifically designed for primate species of Central and South Vietnam.

Animals

There are around 180 animals at EPRC Vietnam and this number fluctuates over time due to release, or death of animals. Some animals born at EPRC Vietnam are the first of their species to be bred successfully in captivity such as the Catba langur, Delacour's langur and Gray-shanked douc langur.
There are 15 primate species there: 
- Lorises: Slow loris, Pygmy loris;
- Langurs: François' langur, Hatinh langur, Catba langur, Delacour's langur, Indochinese gray langur, Laotian langur;
- Douc langurs: Red-shanked douc langur, Gray-shanked douc langur;
- Gibbons: Black gibbon, , , , .

Funding

Approximately 75% of support for EPRC Vietnam comes from Zoo Leipzig. The rest comes from donors, , volunteers and merchandise.

Staff

There are currently 31 staff at EPRC; most of them are animal keepers coming from Muong ethnicity.