Deep in the remote forests of southwestern China lives the rare and obscure Yunnan golden (or snub-nosed) monkey. Their human-like features have made them the subject of legends in China. But neither their elusiveness nor their human appearance has stopped them from becoming one of the most endangered primates on Earth.

Habitat loss, including deforestation and the removal of dead trees, and illegal hunting have strained a species already struggling to survive in isolated and fragmented populations. There are now fewer than 2,000 Yunnan golden monkeys in the wild.

The Mysterious Golden Monkey

Discovered by scientists in the 1890’s, then lost and thought possibly extinct until 1962, these monkeys are a continuing mystery. Scientists are just starting to understand the species biology and behaviors. Yunnan golden monkeys:

• Make their home at altitudes higher than any other primate except humans.
   
• Live and travel in communities made up of small family groups consisting of one male, several females and their children.
   
• Spend most of their lives in trees, eating only plants – primarily lichens found on trees. Although sometimes they can also come down to search for food on the ground, including plant tubes underground.
   
• Have a wandering lifestyle. A troop may cover a few kilometers in one day and have an immense home range of over 50 square kilometers in extreme rugged terrain.
   
• Give birth about once every two or three years.

Protecting China’s National Treasure

Recognizing the need for drastic action to protect the Yunnan golden monkey, the Conservancy and Chinese partners launched a program to protect this legendary species range-wide and save the best primary forests in the area sandwiched between The Yangtze River and The Mekong River in the famous world heritage site, The Three Parallel Rivers.

Not since the efforts to protect the giant panda has a species protection program been launched in China at such a large scale.

To bring the monkey back from brink of extinction, the Conservancy and partners are:

• Tracking monkeys. Using GIS technology and GPS collars to understand the ecology and conservation needs of the monkey species and develop an innovative range-wide conservation plan.
   
• Protecting their homes. Increasing management and patrolling of the forests that harbor the 15 remaining sub-populations of the Yunnan golden monkey, and establishing the Laojun Mountain National Park – home to two of these groups that form the most of the gene-pool among the remaining three gene-pools of the monkey species.
   
• Asking local people to help. Using environmental education to teach local villages about the value of the monkey and the forest habitat and enlisting their supports.
   
• Working together. Coordinating existing golden monkey conservation efforts to increase the overall results.

The Conservancy and our partners are continuing to learn more about the Yunnan golden monkey and use that research to find ways to keep the monkey from extinction.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Dr. Baoping Ren/Institute of Zoology affiliated to Chinese Academy of Sciences (Yunnan golden monkey family); Photo © Long Yongcheng/TNC (Yunnan forests, Yunnan golden monkey habitat); Photo © Long Yongcheng/TNC (Male Yunnan golden monkey licking the snow on oak leaves in the tree crown).