Monkeys were expected to be among the chief culprits identified as Sri Lanka carried out a nationwide survey on March 15 of crop-raiding animals. But in a small village near the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an unusual population of langurs has captured attention, becoming a local tourist attraction.

Purple-faced langurs (Semnopithecus vetulus) are found only in Sri Lanka and typically have a black coat with distinctive facial markings. But near the village of Lankagama, some individuals stand out, with coats that range from completely to partially white. Often mistakenly cited as a case of albinism, where the organism doesn’t produce any melanin, these white monkeys actually exhibit leucism, a partial loss of pigmentation, says Madura de Silva, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle (WCSG).

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Photo credits: Ajantha Palihawadana