An American devoted to Vietnamese langurs

Whether at meal or on the way to work, the things Rick Passaro often thinks of are related to the langurs, because he knows a simple thing: the langurs need him.

The luggage that 55-year-old American Rick Passaro brought to Cat Ba Island more than a year ago only had old cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, clothes and books. Rick came to protect the rare and endangered hunted langurs.

Among 7 Vietnamese langurs, Cat Ba langur, also known as Cat Ba langur, is the rarest species. Since 2000, Cat Ba langur has become one of the 25 rarest species in the world, with only 60-70 individuals.

"The langurs need me," said Rick, a wildlife conservation expert, when asked about why he came to Vietnam. Rick never knew this langur until he read the job advertisement online. "But the more I read and learn about the problem of Cat Ba langurs in Vietnam, the more I see this is not only a good project but also a great challenge. And that challenge has attracted me."

New life in Cat Ba begins with difficulties and sometimes impatience."In the first six months of work, I had no chance to see Cat Ba langur eyes , " Rick recalls.

Rick Passaro on a douc survey trip. (Photo: Cat Ba langur conservation project)

"But Rick adapted very quickly," said his Vietnamese colleague. "Foreign bosses have to ask for directions and passes, but Rick is self-taught and often drives a motorbike to more than a dozen trees from Cat Ba National Park to the town" , Pham Van Tuyen, a cadre said the langurs, said.

Animal national symbol

Being a project manager means getting new ideas. Rick thinks every time he goes to the langurs, from lunch until the bus ride. When I first arrived in Vietnam with a Vietnamese airline plane, Rick saw the lotus symbol and was told it was the national flower."So what is the symbolic animal of Vietnam?" , he wondered and then went to search online.

'Tiger? Many Asian countries also have tigers. And the buffalo? Southeast Asian countries are no less. In the end, the dragon is not real , 'he argued. After a while of thinking, he shared a seemingly unrealistic idea with his colleagues. "Why not take Cat Ba langur as Vietnam's national object?" , Rick asked.

"The whole world has only Vietnam with Cat Ba langur, and most importantly, anyone dares to do their national extinction?".

After more than 10 years since the project was founded, Rick was the first to come up with the idea of "camera traps" (cameras that automatically follow animal movements) in the cave to observe the behavior of the Cat langur species. Mrs. This is also the first time scientists have photos, even films about Cat Ba langurs in the cave. Rick's initiative helps the researcher to gain many important data about the behavior of the Cat Ba langur species, which were previously vague.

Rick's passion for work and creativity spread to his colleagues."The biggest thing I learned from Mr. Rick is his passion for career, marketability and tireless working spirit for conservation," Tuyen said.

Shirt 17 years

Like many other scientists, Rick said that being a conservationist, a zoologist would not make much money."I'm still single, no wife, no children. Working here helps me have enough money to pay for myself, because I don't have people to raise and care for, " Rick chuckled, uneasy. If you only hear the lively voice, at this low moment, it is hard to imagine a man from New York state who is in his fifties.

Rick and his colleagues are surveying the langur cave. (Photo: Cat Ba langur conservation project)

"How long have I been wearing this shirt?" , Tuyen recounted the "teacher Rick" when two teachers and students once talked. Reaching the end of the T-shirt history, Rick finally remembered that he had bought it since the 1990s, back in Africa. "It must have been over 17 years!" , Rick told his colleague.

"I'm not a superman," Rick confessed. "It's not like I wake up every morning: Yeah, I'm in Cat Ba and I'm going to save the langurs! In fact, I get angry sometimes:" Who the hell is losing power? Oh my god, is it dehydrated again? ' , He said in a playful voice.

Difficult, but when it comes to langurs, Rick expresses passion, talking about them constantly. Whenever he read anything about the hunted or badly treated langurs, Rick was sad."The conservation project has been operating for years, but still people want to hunt langurs? What should I do?"

Cat Ba langur conservation project is cooperating with the US embassy to organize a langur painting competition, with the first prize of up to VND 10 million, to encourage the community to protect this endangered rare animal. .

When he saw pictures of two young people persecuting gray-shanked douc langurs in Quang Ngai, Rick was taken aback, then turned angry."These days, my colleagues and I are constantly talking about this case. Those people have acted so cruelly."