Taxonomy,Status and Conservation of Leaf Monkeys in China

Except for three species of snub-nosed monkeys and one douc,which was noted according to a skin on Hainan Island in 19th Century,five species of leaf monkeys have been recorded in China.They are Semnopithecus entellus,Trachypithecus pileatus,Trachypithecus geei (?),Trachypithecus phayrei and Trachypithecus francoisi.However,some disputes still exist concerning taxonomy on the genus and species level.In genus,Pithecus,Semnopithecus,Presbytis and Trachypithecus all were used as the genus name for leaf monkeys covering a wide range from mainland of Asia to islands of Southest Asia.Since middle of 1980s,most of West scientists separated the group into three genera:Semnopithecus for hanuman langur,Trachypithecus for species on mainland of Asia and Presbytis for the species on Sunda Islands,Southeast Asia.While many scientists in China still use Presbytis as the genus name for all Chinese leaf monkeys so far.Though Corbet et al.(1992) combined Semnopithecus and Trachypithecus because there were hybrid offspring between the two genera.In primates,nevertheless,hybrid between genera also happened in some other groups in captive.Therefore,we adopted the view of most scientists that Chinese leaf monkeys are separated into two genera:Semnopi thecus and Trachypithecus.In species,we think that Pithecus obscurus barbei described by Allen (1938)in southwestern Yunnan is a subspecies of Trachypithecus phayrei,and Presbytis leucocephalus named by T an (1957)is a subspecies of Trachypithcus francoisi.Chinese leaf monkeys demonstrate a vicarious distribution pattern from west to east,Semnopithecus entellus in Himalayas,Trachypithecus geei in Menyu and Luoyu,South Tibet,T.pileatus in Mt.Gaoligong,northwestern Yunnan,T.phayrei in West and South of Yunnan,and T.francoisi in Guangxi,Guizhou and Chongqing.All five species have been listed as the First Category in State Key Protected Wildlife List of China and in Appendix Ⅰ of CITES (except T.francoisi and T.phayrei as in Appendix Ⅱ of CITES).According to recent surveys,the population of leaf monkeys in China is:about 1000 indivi duals of S.entellus,500-600 individuals of T.pileatus,5000-6000 individuals of T.phayrei,3200-3500 individuals of T.f.francoisi,and 1200-1400 individuals of T.f.leucocephalus.Owing to no data for T.geei,its current population is unclear.Since 1980s,most of distribution areas of leaf monkeys in China have been set up as 32 natural reserves,and hunting for the monkeys has been inhibited,so that the habitats have been improved.The population tends to be stable and T.francoisi leucocephalus also shows an increase in recent years.