Current status and conservation of white-headed langur ( Trachypithecus leucocephalus) in China

Abstract

The white-headed langur is classed as a category I species under the Wild Animal Protection Law in China. It is distributed only in Karst hills in four counties (Longzhou, Ningming, Chongzuo and Fusui), in the southern Guangxi province of China. The Mingjiang River and the Zuojiang River form its southern, western and northern boundaries, and the Shiwandashan Mountains restrict its range in the east. Population surveys conducted in the 1980s showed that there were a total of 630 individuals in Guangxi, including 244 in Longzhou and Ningming counties, 117 in six fragments of Chongzuo County and 272 in nine patches of Fusui County. Surveys conducted by our group and Guangxi Forestry Bureau indicated that a total of 580–620 white-headed langurs still live in the above four counties, including 210–240 in Longzhou and Ningming, 90–100 in Chongzuo and 250 in Fusui. According to our statistics, only about 200 km 2 of habitat remains within the current range of the white-headed langur and this is separated as a total of 16 patches in 13 townships. Shangjin and Xiangshui in Longzhou county and Tingliang and Tuolu in Ningming, form the largest patch of the range, with total area of 68 km 2, while in Chongzuo and Fusui County, the habitat is heavily fragmented with six patches of 43.5 km 2 in Chongzuo and nine patches of 88 km 2 in Fusui. At present, the white-headed langur is still suffering from heavy habitat deterioration and human disturbance such as cultivation, tree-cutting for firewood, and poachings even though the government has made many efforts to protect this endangered species, such as putting it as a category I species for protection and designating the nature reserve and stations.