Yunnan snub-nosed monkey found in Yunlong Tianchi Protected Area

The black and white snub-nosed monkey is one of the highest distributed primates, distributed only in Yunlingshan region between Lancang and Jinsha rivers in Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province. Black and white snub-nosed monkey is an endemic species in China and a national Class I key protected wild animal. IUCN Red List Endangered species.

The distribution of Yunnan golden Snub monkey ranges from Mangkang in Tibet in the north to Longma Mountain in Yunlong County in Yunnan Province in the south. Fifteen isolated populations have been reported and divided into five genetic units. The southern unit has serious habitat fragmentation and loss, and the risk of extinction is high. In order to understand the population status of the southern unit, from October 2013 to February 2018, Wang Haohan et al., East Himalayan Research Institute of Dali University, conducted a survey of the southern unit of the black and white snub-nosed monkey by using Google Earth 3D visual visit method and field investigation. In the course of this survey, about 20 new monkey groups were found in the southern edge of Tianchi area of Yunlong Tianchi National Nature Reserve, which was named Tianchi population. A group of about 20 monkeys has been rediscovered at the northern edge of the Heishan area of Yunling Provincial Nature Reserve. This survey increased the population in the southern unit from 3 to 5, and the Tianchi population is the southernmost population reported so far, which has important conservation biology, genetics and ecological value, extending the distribution area of the black and white snuffed nose monkey to the south by 40km.