Rhinopithecus brelichi

Rhinopithecus brelichi | Grey Snub-nosed Monkey

Only spot: Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, Guizhou Province, China

Primatology

Taxonomy & Occurrence

Rhinopithecus brelichi is a monotypic species (no subspecies). It is only found in Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, Guizhou Province, China.

IUCN Conservation Status

Endangered

Of the three species of Chinese snub-nosed monkeys, the Grey Snub-nosed Monkey is the most threatened with the lowest population size of ca. 750 individuals in the wild.

Seeing this Species

Permission to visit the nature reserve has to be arranged and obtained from the Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve. In the summer of 2013, I spent 4 days in the mountains looking for the monkeys with the local research team, but unfortunately failed. I will try again soon.

Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve (FNNR), Guizhou Province, China

Getting into the Fanjingshan mountains to see the monkeys is not a straightforward task. First, there are no direct flights from major Chinese cities (with the only exception of Guangzhou) into Tongren Airport in Guizhou Province. The easiest will be to fly 1.5 hours from Guangzhou to Tongren, but there are no flights on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Next, it's a six-hour trek to Yangaoping field station.

There are fewer than 750 individuals left. The core distribution of the monkeys is in the northern part of FNNR, close to the field station. About 400-500 monkeys live around the station [1]. The monkeys carry out their daily activities in their smaller social groups, but come together to form bands (sometimes up to hundreds!) twice a year between March and April, and September and October [2]. It will be quite a view!

The Little Green Guards are an exciting conservation project in the area.

Probability of Success: ◆ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Overlapping species: François' Langur

Local contacts: Forest Ally, Wellness, Science and Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. (Niu Kefeng: newcton@126.com)

References

[1] Xiang Z.F., Nie S.G., Lei X.P., Chang Z.F., Wei F.W. et al., 2009. Current status and conservation of the gray snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus brelichi (Colobinae) in Guizhou, China. Biological Conservation 142: 469-476.

[2] Yang Y.Q., Lei X.P., Sun D.Y., Yang C.D., He R.T. and Zhang W.Y., 2002. Ecology of the wild Guizhou snub-nosed monkey. Guiyang, Guizhou Scientific Institute Press.

Page last updated: 12 April 2020