State of Langur Species in American Zoos

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Pacarana

Well-Known Member
Hello all:) I have researched for a while and cannot find many threads on this site that answer my questions so I thought I would post a thread. Hopefully this would be of use to someone else as well.

Some of my favorite animals are langurs, particularly asian leaf monkeys or lutungs. Though with many species phasing out in American zoos and the fact that only a couple silver leaf langurs exist in Europe, I became worried about their future in American zoos. Does anyone know what the primate TAG plans to do with the silver leaf langur?

From what I can tell only a handful of zoos in America exhibit silver leaf monkeys. The ones I have found are Denver, San Diego, Columbus, Santa Ana and Bronx. I'm sure there are others! Also, does anyone know of any recent births of the species?

I also have the same question about Dusky Langurs in American zoos.

Francois seem to be doing fine in both American and European institutions while Hanuman langurs are at very low numbers in America.
 
Francois and silvered are the only two Asian colobine program species.
 
We share the same interest! :)

Pacarana said:
From what I can tell only a handful of zoos in America exhibit silver leaf monkeys. The ones I have found are Denver, San Diego, Columbus, Santa Ana and Bronx. I'm sure there are others! Also, does anyone know of any recent births of the species?
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There should be two females at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

Pacarana said:
I also have the same question about Dusky Langurs in American zoos.
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Philadelphia Zoo, Dallas Zoo, Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, Henson Robinson Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo and Tulsa Zoo should have Dusky langurs, according to the info I got from ISIS in October 2014.

I haven't heard of recent births in the U.S. of either species, although many Francois langurs were born last year, as you know.
 
Ituri said:
Francois and silvered are the only two Asian colobine program species.
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- SSP?

I would be curious to know the contact information of the coordinator for the langurs. I would assume he/she would be from SDZ. Does anyone know where I could get this info from?
 
FrancoiseLangur said:
We share the same interest! :)



There should be two females at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.



Philadelphia Zoo, Dallas Zoo, Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, Henson Robinson Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo and Tulsa Zoo should have Dusky langurs, according to the info I got from ISIS in October 2014.

I haven't heard of recent births in the U.S. of either species, although many Francois langurs were born last year, as you know.
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I'm glad to hear there is another member who is interested in the species. I had no idea there were at least six zoos with Dusky Langurs! Seems like a lot compared to what I had originally thought.

Do you happen to know why they seem to be somewhat more uncommon in zoos? I would assume its because of there diet or genetic issues.
 
Pacarana said:
Do you happen to know why they seem to be somewhat more uncommon in zoos? I would assume its because of there diet or genetic issues.
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I think both are reasons for the decline in the number of Dusky langurs and other langurs too. It is often difficult for zoos to arrange and maintain a harem-style group the langurs would naturally form in the wild, due to the persistent shortage of female individuals. A group should normally consist of one adult male and maybe three or four adult females, but the sex ratio at birth is close to 1:1.
 
Do bachelor groups work for Langurs? I know they do for some other primates, e.g. lemurs, gorillas, but has it ever been tried for Langurs?
 
zooboy28 said:
Do bachelor groups work for Langurs? I know they do for some other primates, e.g. lemurs, gorillas, but has it ever been tried for Langurs?
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They do work in the wild, for example, male Hanuman langurs form bachelor groups with the intent of taking over a harem; once the dominant male is ousted the members of the group start killing unweaned infants, and when that's over, they kill each other until only one male is left. That's how the sex ratio becomes balanced in the wild.

I do not know any examples of adult male langurs being kept together intentionally. Zoos here in Japan prefer to pair a "redundant" male with a suitable female rather than keeping him in solitude.
 
@Francoiselangur

Why do many exhibit house langur without trees or with fake trees? I understand that they are leaf eaters, but do you know any zoos that house langurs in a more naturalistic way?
 
Pacarana said:
@Francoiselangur

Why do many exhibit house langur without trees or with fake trees? I understand that they are leaf eaters, but do you know any zoos that house langurs in a more naturalistic way?
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I think the reason why langurs are usually displayed without live trees or with fake trees is indeed because they are leaf eaters. It is difficult to find trees with leaves langurs don’t eat; I heard from one of the vets at Japan Monkey Centre that leaf eaters can digest any kind of leaf.

If you want live trees in an exhibit for leaf eaters, you will need many trees, enough to make the exhibit look green at all times even if the langurs eat up a whole tree or two, but usually exhibits aren’t that large.

Chimelong Safari Park in China seems to have a good Francois langur exhibit. Judging from the photos below this must be one of the best langur exhibits in the world.

http://www.zoochat.com/2267/francoiss-langur-393608/

http://www.zoochat.com/2267/francoiss-langur-exhibit-393606/

http://www.zoochat.com/2267/francoiss-langur-exhibit-393605/

(Thanks, baboon, for uploading great photos!)
 
Adelaide Zoo in Australia keeps Dusky Langurs in a tree (Morten Bay Fig), which is a brilliant exhibit. I think Taronga Zoo's Francois Langurs are also kept with trees, but nothing that big. Presumably Langurs can be kept with unpalatable trees, especially in warmer climes.
 
Howletts in the UK have an excellent enclosure for a group of about a dozen Javan Langurs, with a circular grove of mature (Lime?) trees in the centre. It seems a large enough number of trees that they have not been damaged- at least so far. That's the secret of success IMO,-a large enough number of trees.
 
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A Francois Langur was born in November of 2014 and a silver leaf langur was born a couple of months ago at the San Diego Zoo. There was also a stillborn silver leaf languar delivered last month.
 
Thank you for the information betsy, I am glad to hear that silver langurs are still breeding!

@Batto, I was under the assumption Hanuman langurs were not predominately leaf eaters. Is this correct? If so, I am sure they wouldn't have too many issues with trees in their exhibit.

@Zooboy, do you happen to know of more zoos in Australia with dusky langurs?

If lime is a suitable option for langurs, would other citrus trees be as well?

I am also interested to know why Francoise langurs seem to be quite popular among zoos. Are they easier to keep/breed in an artificial environment? Does anyone know if Francoise langurs are a recent addition to zoos, like within the last 25-40 years?
 
Pacarana said:
@Batto, I was under the assumption Hanuman langurs were not predominately leaf eaters. Is this correct? If so, I am sure they wouldn't have too many issues with trees in their exhibit.

Not aimed at me but here's my take on that; Hanumans are less specialist than other Langurs, more opportunistic feeders that will eat a much wider range of foods. But in a Zoo exhibit I think perhaps they would still eat leaves to a degree, but maybe less than the more specialist leaf eating species.
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I am also interested to know why Francoise langurs seem to be quite popular among zoos. Are they easier to keep/breed in an artificial environment? Does anyone know if Francoise langurs are a recent addition to zoos, like within the last 25-40 years?[/QUOTE]

At least in Europe they are a recent addition. Duisburg had some in the 1960-ties ( if I remember right ) but these lived only for a short time. Then at the beginning of the 1990-ties a few zoos started with this species and were more succesfull ( esp. Rotterdam Zoo ).
 
Hey there!

I have recently joined zoo chat as I am currently studying at Taronga Zoo and am very keen on gathering, seeing, talking about animal info.

As I'm not entirely sure on how to navigete the site yet, I was wondering if someone could help me with some infor mation that I am finding hard to find, for an assessment I am doing?

It is on the Francois' Langur.... I have found loads of information about them in the wild eyc, but I need to find out more about their captive living situations in other captive animal institutes over the world. I can't seem to find such information, perhaps I am looking in the wrong places??

Can someone please point me in the right direction as to where this information may be founf?

Kindest regards.

BeckS
 
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