Comparison of Activity Budgets, Diet, and Habitat Utilization between Provisioned and Wild Groups of the François’ Langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) in Mayanghe National Nature Reserve, China

The endangered François’ langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) is only found from southern China to northeastern Vietnam. This study evaluates behavioral differences between provisioned (Ts, 7 individuals) and wild (Tn, 13 individuals) family groups in Mayanghe National Nature Reserve, China. Scan sampling every 5 min for 12 h daily between the months of March 2013 and February 2014 was used to record behaviors in seven categories. Tn exhibited three main feeding periods daily, whereas Ts showed more variable behavioral patterns that relied on provisions. The Tn alpha male showed twice the amount of guarding behavior compared with the Ts alpha male. The proportion of each habitat type utilized differed significantly between Tn and Ts (χ2[4] = 17,131.4, p < 0.01). Additionally, dietary diversity differed between the two groups: Tn fed on 61 plant species, whereas Ts fed on 43 plant species. Tn rarely ate sweet potato and corn other than discarded remnants of human food (0.2% of their total food sources), whereas these foods represented 21.8% of Ts food sources. We compared data for the two troops to understand this species’ activities under human interference, in particular to determine whether provisioning is a suitable strategy for their conservation.