A Guizhou snub-nosed monkey gets food from a feeder at the Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 6, 2008. (Xinhua/Gao Xueyu)
GUIYANG, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China is conducting a survey on a rare snub-nosed monkey species in a nature reserve in southwest China's Guizhou Province, according to the reserve administration.
The survey on Guizhou snub-nosed monkeys will include the status quo of their habitats, population, distribution, food and behavioral traits, activity patterns as well as trends in population changes, said Li Haibo, with the Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve administration.
The structural composition of their small family populations, the proportion of sub-adult and juvenile monkeys, and factors that threaten the survival of their populations will also be investigated, Li added.
The Guizhou snub-nosed monkey, or Guizhou golden monkey, is under top-level protection in China and is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Among the three species of golden snub-nosed monkeys endemic to China, the Guizhou snub-nosed monkey is the one with the smallest population, the narrowest habitat, and the least ecological information. Mount Fanjingshan in northeast Guizhou is its only habitat.
Li said the monkeys are mainly distributed in an area of about 340 square km between 1,000 meters and 2,000 meters above sea level in the mountain. It takes three to six years for the species to give birth to one, or sometimes two, offspring.
Technologies such as drone monitoring, thermal imaging and infrared camera monitoring will be used for the survey, Li added.
The first round of the survey is expected to end in September 2022, and validation and supplementary surveys will be conducted thereafter. The final results are expected to be released in the spring of 2023. ■
