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Otherwise known as the Francois Leaf-monkey, the Francois Langur is born bright orange in colour which is believed to help with identification before its coat changes to black, with distinctive white cheek markings in maturity.
Not visible to Zoo visitors
The Francois' Leaf-monkey group is currently off-display, but there are plenty of other primates to see including the gorillas, chimpanzees, gibbons and Orang-utans.
Distribution & Habitat
Francois Langurs are found in small populations in semi-tropical monsoon and moist tropical and sub-tropical rainforests in southern China, and north-eastern Vietnam.
Breeding
Gestation: 6-7 months
Sexual maturity: Males at five years and females at four years
Diet
Although mainly folivorus, the Francois Langur also supplements its diet with flowers, fruit, shoots and bark.
Behaviour
The arboreal T. francoisi is diurnal, and is extremely agile, adept at jumping from tree to tree. Males have been known to maintain their territories through loud vocalization and displays. There are observations that a dominance hierarchy exists among the females of the species which seem to initiate socialization in the group.
In Vietnam, the major threat to this species is hunting, although some populations face pressures from mining and other resource extraction.
The isolation of populations due to habitat fragmentation taking place for agricultural development threatens the genetic viability of small populations.
In some areas of China, the threat of hunting is extremely severe, due to the illegal production of “black ape wine,” which is made specifically from this species; the animals are even imported illegally from Viet nam for this purpose.
In China, populations are threatened by habitat loss due to local cultivation and wood cutting for firewood.
Unmanaged fires that spread into limestone karst habitats also result in the loss of habitat.
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