Monkey Bridges in Vietnam

You may spy rope ladders hanging over some of the walkways around our resort in Danang. These are actually “monkey bridges”. They have been strung to make it easy for our many arboreal species (animals that live in trees) to move around.

“Trees can act as monkey bridges,” says Anthony Barker, the resort’s resident zoologist. “But in spots with no overhanging trees, we might decide to put up a rope or wooden bridge.”

Why are these important? Barker explains that migration is important for these animals to have enough food. If their environment becomes fragmented, these islanded populations become at risk due to inbreeding and restricted food supply. That is particularly so for endangered species like our red shanked douc langur – one of three species of primates living on the Son Tra Peninsula. (The two others are the macaque and the slow loris).

“We have been entrusted with protecting our local Douc families,” said Barker.

“Monkey bridges are especially important to allow these families to access our feeding trees within our resort and migrate through in peace. Look high in the canopy and you’ll see either natural bridges or man-made ones. If you’re lucky you might just see some monkeys crossing.”