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Vietnam: Endangered Primate Rescue Center (EPRC)

Conservation at a Glance

• About 20 percent of the world’s most endangered primates, including douc langurs, live in Vietnam, a country only slightly larger than the state of New Mexico.
• Habitat loss is the biggest threat to Vietnam’s wildlife, but doucs are also threatened by the pet trade, the bushmeat trade, and the trade in animal parts, which are used for traditional Asian medicine.
• Since 1993, the Endangered Primate Rescue Center (EPRC) in Cuc Phong National Park has been helping to confiscate and subsequently care for illegally held primates and other wildlife in Vietnam.
• EPRC staff has developed expertise in caring for these sensitive primates and have also contributed to scientific knowledge about their natural history.
• EPRC is also working to raise public awareness about the plight of wildlife in Vietnam, particularly primates, through the development of a documentary film and written materials.
• The Zoo and the Docent Council have been supporting EPRC by recycling cell phones to generate money for the center. Cell phone recycling also helps keep toxic phone parts out of landfills and reduces the need for destructive mining of these parts (specifically coltan).