Mislabelled as "Francois' langur". The species showed up mysteriously in several Chinese zoos (Nantong, Wenzhou and Shendiaoshan) in 2018, likely from the same dealer. None of the facilities signed the species correctly.
Dear @Ding Lingwei, can you somehow quantify how many (sex and age perhaps) of this rare langur - the Laos langur (Trachypithecus laotum) are resident at the 3 zoo collections Nantong Forest Wild Zoo (Jiangsu Province), the Wenzhou Jingshan Park Zoo (Zhejiang) and the Rongcheng Shendiaoshan Wildlife Park (Shandong Province)?
@Kifaru Bwana Of the three collections mentioned above, Shendiaoshan kept two individuals in 2018. I have no clue about their current number except for that the species is still on exhibit as of May 2024. Wenzhou kept just one animal and it is also still around, living with a Francois' langur, an Indochinese black langur and a hybrid descendent. Nantong kept a group of five in 2018. I saw three during my visit, but according to a zookeeper there're five more in the off-exhibit area, including at least one T. laotum×ebenus hybrid.
@Ding Lingwei, I do hope you can encourage the zoos concerned to fix the issue with just pure-bred Laotian langur for breeding at 1 or 2 of the institutions and maintain the hybrids in a controlled off-exhibit area.
Thinking of Wenzhou, I would send the Francois langur off to a Francois langur only zoo in PR China. I expect that there must be more Indochinese black langurs in PR China? Any idea on their status as on that for the Francois langurs (I bet the latter is the most numerous)?
@Kifaru Bwana Francois is indeed the most numerous. Don't know the exact number but many zoos hold large groups and there's a breeding program coordinated by CAZG. Indochinese black langur is much rarer, with only three individuals kept by three institutions (Nantong, Wenzhou and Nanning). The Nanning animal is a female confiscated in 2021, while the other two came with the Laotian langurs in 2018.
