It has glossy, black fur and an orangey-golden brown, hair-like mane on its head.

It typically lives in troops of nine to ten individuals, with or without offspring, depending on seasonality.

It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by habitat destruction and poaching for its body parts, thought to supposedly contain aphrodisiac properties.

Traditionally it has been placed within the genus Trachypithecus based on morphological similarities such as cranial morphology and neonatal pelage color, and within the Trachypithecus vetulus group within Trachypithecus based on a presumed close relationship with the purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus), which had formerly been classified as T. vetulus.

[8] The Nilgiri langur is native to the Nilgiri Hills of South India, where it occurs at elevations of 300–2,000 m (980–6,560 ft) in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.