Best Animal Encounter

By Kay Johnson Monday, July 04, 2005
Established in 1993 by German air-conditioning technician turned environmentalist Tilo Nadler, the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Vietnam's vast Cuc Phuong National Park in Ninh Binh province is a Noah's Ark of creatures once thought doomed to extinction. Among its inhabitants are some of the world's most threatened primates—some with populations of less than 300 in the wild (golden-headed langurs are down to just 60). Set amid the mist-shrouded, primordial world of Cuc Phuong's towering rain forests, the center's breeding programs have resulted in the first births in captivity of both golden-headed and Delacour's langurs. Nadler's success has also inspired similar initiatives around the country: Vietnam's primates can be grateful for the day he decided to stop saving air-conditioners and turned to animals instead.