If you spot the shy red leaf monkey up close on Kundasang's Maragang Hill, consider yourself lucky
Published on: Saturday, August 13, 2022
By: Clarence Dol
.jpg "If you spot the shy red leaf monkey up close on Kundasang's Maragang Hill, consider yourself lucky")
A Maragang or Lotong photographed on a tree on Maragang Hill in Kundasang. (Photo: Crew Maragang Hill/Hali Nasim)
Kundasang: The red leaf monkey (Maroon Langur) known as Lotong or Maragang by locals, or its scientific name Presbytis Rubicunda, is beginning to make close appearances and has recently caught the eyes of visitors on a hiking trail here.
Deputy Chairman of Eco Tourism of Kg Mesilou Sukaibin B Sumail said the Lotong's conservation status is categorised as vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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According to him, the animal can currently be found around Maragang Hill in Kundasang, which has been open as a hiking trail and a wellknown tourist attraction in Ranau.
He said the peak of Maragang Hill was named after the Lotong because the surrounding forest was located in their main route to the western or to the eastern part of the natural forest.
Sukaibin said the Red Leaf monkey has actually always been found in the Maragang Hill surrounding area depending on a visitor's luck, and he himself has encountered them many times but from a farther distance.
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