Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys under better protection

Included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys only lives in a 20,000km² narrow belt between the rivers of Lancang and Jinsha, northwest Yunnan province. It is as rare as the giant panda and under first-class state protection in China.

Back to the 1980s, however, the habitat for the rare monkey species was marred by hunting and logging, and the monkeys became increasingly afraid of humans.

To save the threatened species, China established the Baima snow-mountain nature reserve. By hiring folks in the surrounding areas as forest rangers, the nature reserve joined hands with local villages in fulfilling co-existence of human beings and wild animals.

In July 2019, a joint-conservation network for the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys was set up in northwest Yunnan’s Shangri-La City, kicking off Yunnan’s effort to pool conserving wisdom from the forest bureaus, organizations and research institutes.

As of December 2020, the Shangri-La conservation network has had 26 member entities that raised over 19 million yuan to better monitor and protect the snub-nosed monkeys by restoring the habitat, designating eco-corridors and enhancing the public awareness.

“It’s quite beyond me that they look so similar to humans,” said Wang Dali, a graduate majoring ecology at China West Normal University based in Sichuan province. Having observed the monkey in Tacheng area for one year, Wang thinks that to protect the monkeys is to contribute to bio-diversity in the world.

According to monitoring by Yunnan Forest and Grassland Administration, the population of the snub-nosed monkeys increased from 1,500 in 13 groups in 1996 to 3,000 in 18 groups in 2016. Now the population has reached 3,300 in 23 groups.

Source: Xinhua; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue