The male Francois’ Langur with its unique orange fur was born at Sydney’s Taronga zoo and has not yet been named.
The animal is only discovered wild in China and Vietnam, but after frightened by poachers and loss of habitat in its home countries. “Seeing Francois’ Langurs in the wild is incredibly rare, but seeing a baby is even more so,” said Senior Zoo Keeper Jane Marshall.
The zoo estimates there are only about 3,000 of the species left in the wild. Francois’ Langurs live in groups of females called harems.
”It’s very interesting seeing the females in the group interact and care for the baby,” Ms Marshall added.
”They all clearly care for him very much and pass him to one another throughout the day.”
“Not a lot of people know about Francois’ Langurs as a species, but these beautiful animals are very vibrant animals, who are incredibly agile and intelligent,” Marshall added.
The birth of this rare species was celebrated by the Zoo when one of its other females, Meili, gave birth to Nangua in November 2015. Noel who is the baby’s mother used to carry Nangua around about half of the time when he was newborn, said keepers.
Francois’ langurs also known as Francois’ leaf monkeys and they are species of primate native to China, Vietnam and Laos. Since 2008, the animals have been considered endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the reason is logging and building work damaging their habitats.
Francois’ langurs eat mostly leaves which other monkeys can’t digest, as well as shoots, fruits, flowers and bark. ”They grow to between 12lbs and 17lbs (5.4-7.7kg) in weight and about two feet tall (60cm). In the wild, they can live for around 25 years but their lives are thought to be shorter in captivity.”
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