François’s Langur

The François’ langur – also known Tonkin leaf monkey is named after a French consul Auguste François (1857–1935) stationed in southern China froml 1899 to 1904 – is a primate with silky black fur and distinctive white sideburns. It usually lives in groups of about 12 in the karst hills of this region of Asia.

The females lead the group and raise their young together. In order to protect themselves from predators, these monkeys sleep in the numerous caves carved out by the rains in the limestone cliffs. Below are the dense forests where the François’ langur finds its food: essentially leaves, buds, bark and roots.

They are able to digest these tough fibres thanks to their complex stomach with two chambers. In the upper chamber, colonies of bacteria help to break down the plants that have been crushed by the teeth and mixed with saliva, while the second chamber is similar to that of other mammals, in that it contains acidic gastric juices.

There are only around 2,000 François’ langurs left in the wild because of habitat destruction and hunting for traditional Chinese medicine.

• Name : François’s Langur
• Latin name : Trachypithecus francoisi
• Origin : Southwest China and northeast Vietnam
• IUCN status : Endangered
• Cites : Appendix II