Flaming lips and a small upturned nose, whose dream monkey is this?

Shiny dark brown hair, fair and delicate face, dark and lively eyes, bright red and plump lips - which peerless beauty do you think I'm talking about?

No, I'm talking about it, the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti). They are the only primates, other than humans, that can live above 4,000 meters above sea level, and are real "flying monkeys of the snow mountains".

On TikTok, the golden monkey is the second most popular monkey after the water monkey. It is said that for every golden monkey that appears, an Emeishan macaque is "cyberbullied". The Emeishan monkeys also said: "Don't believe in rumors or spread them."

Image source | Internet

These are of course all jokes from netizens, but it is true that golden monkeys are very popular.

This May Day, if you can’t go out and have to stay at home, why not follow Calendar Girl to travel around nature and get to know this popular snow mountain monkey!

The pig nose pointing up to the sky is the identity certificate of the plateau hermit

The Yunnan snub-nosed monkey is a species endemic to China. It lives in the mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests and cold-temperate coniferous forest belts between 3,200 and 4,600 meters above sea level in Yunnan and Tibet.

In the plateau area above 4,000 meters above sea level, the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey is the only primate besides humans that can survive. To survive in this lonely and cold land, the first thing to solve is the breathing problem - the air in the plateau is thin, and people who are used to living on the plains often suffer from altitude sickness due to lack of oxygen when they come to the plateau.

The Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys, however, do not have this problem. In the long-term evolution, their nasal bones have been degenerating and even disappearing, and their nostrils are no longer open downward like ours, but are like two holes poking straight into the face. This wide-open nasal structure reduces the resistance of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys when breathing, and they can still live normally even in the plateau where the air is thin. In the genus Snub-nosed Monkey, to which the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey belongs, every member has such an upward nose.

Yunnan golden monkey | Tuchong

Plump and bright red lips are also a feature of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. Among primates, only the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey and humans have such bright red lips. As for their function... one theory is that red lips, like the red buttocks during estrus, are openly sent sexual signals.

In addition to the plateau-style small upturned nose and flaming red lips, the silver and white hair of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey is also very distinctive. Unlike the real "golden" monkey, the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey, the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey does not have a single golden hair, but is pure black and white. The hair color of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey is not born this way, but changes with age. Young monkeys are mostly silver-white, and as they grow up, the fur color gradually darkens, and the hands, feet and back gradually turn charcoal gray, just like the Siamese cat at home, which is on the road to becoming a coal miner and never returns.

Young Yunnan golden monkey | Tuchong

In addition to their interesting appearance, the private lives of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys are also very interesting. They are polygamous, and in addition to multiple polygamous families, there are also a group of single male monkeys who can't find a partner, and some middle-aged monkeys who have been robbed of their status and wives due to old age and physical weakness. As wandering monkeys, this group of men formed an all-male unit to live together, which is like a low-profile fraternity.

In the lonely and cold plateau, the Yunnan golden monkeys live their "monkey life" quietly. They are busy fighting for wives, territories, and giving birth to baby monkeys, and they don't care about the world outside the mountains.

But for the humans outside the mountain, it was not that simple, because humans almost killed these monkeys before they even knew them.

A magical piece of fur opens up a new world of monkey identification

In the 1870s, French missionary Félix Biet and his colleagues encountered a type of monkey they had never seen before while hunting in Yunnan. They dissected and recorded information about the monkey, and also hunted seven specimens and sent them back to their country, where they were displayed in the Natural History Museum in Paris.

In 1897, French scientists named this new monkey Rhinopithecus bieti. For nearly a hundred years, no one paid attention to this black and white monkey until 1960, when Chinese zoologist Professor Peng Hongshou accidentally saw the fur of a monkey called "big green monkey", "white monkey" or "flower monkey" in Yunnan by locals. This monkey, which was not yet known to the scientific community, finally came to people's attention.

Cataloging Nature ｜ flickr

People discovered that this mysterious species discovered nearly a hundred years ago really exists and is still hidden in the mountains and forests. The Yunnan golden monkey has thus come into people's sight, but scientists and conservationists have never been able to get a glimpse of its true appearance. They can only construct a vague image of the Yunnan golden monkey by purchasing monkey bones from medicinal materials and fur hunted by local people. It was not until May 1985 that a staff member of the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve finally saw their protected object - a living Yunnan golden monkey.

Since then, the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey has really been taken seriously by people. However, due to the long-term neglect and the prevalence of hunting in the area, the population of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey has been greatly affected. In addition, its habitat is relatively narrow, with only a narrow area of ​​about 20,000 square kilometers between the Jinsha River and the Lancang River. Coupled with the impact of climate change, the already narrow habitat has become more fragmented, which has also led to the isolation of different populations and affected their natural reproduction.

By 1996, there were only 13 populations of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys left - fewer than 1,000 individuals.

Cataloging Nature | flickr

Although the recognition came a little late, the protection action did not come too late. As early as 1983, Yunnan built the Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve, which was also the first Yunnan golden monkey reserve. In 1989, the Yunnan golden monkey was listed as a national first-class protected animal. In 1996, the IUCN rated the Yunnan golden monkey as an endangered species. In 1997, the CITES Convention listed the Yunnan golden monkey in Appendix I, prohibiting international trade.

Thanks to various conservation measures, the population of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys has gradually recovered. In 2016, the number of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys recovered to 3,000 in 18 populations, and continued to grow to more than 3,300 in 23 populations by 2021. These lovely flying monkeys will live with us on this beautiful earth for a long time.

Life is thriving, and our story with nature continues

In fact, the recovery of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey population is only a small part of my country's biodiversity conservation efforts. In recent years, more and more species like the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey have returned to our world from the brink of extinction.

The giant panda, a national treasure that was once endangered, received a welcome downgrade in 2021, from endangered to vulnerable; in the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, the population of wild Siberian tigers has quietly doubled; after the fishing ban in the Yangtze River, the once extinct Yangtze finless porpoises not only appeared in front of us several times, but their population is also increasing... Those creatures that once walked to the edge of the cliff and almost disappeared from the earth are returning to us one by one.

Yangtze River Porpoise | Tuchong

The main factors behind this are of course my country's increasingly improved protection policies and the hard work of conservationists year after year; but it is also inseparable from the joint participation of you and me - even ordinary people like us can pay attention to energy conservation and emission reduction in our daily lives and contribute to the protection of the earth. In addition, our continued attention is actually a powerful force. Our little accumulation can also promote the progress of this huge cause.

Only when more and more people can pay attention to the beauty of nature and establish a harmonious and beautiful connection with nature, can the future of mankind and nature be more harmonious.

Such power also exists in the story of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. In addition to the protection of local policies, the Tibetans and Lisu people who live on the same land as the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys are also protecting the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys in their own way. In the beautiful legends of their people, the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys are true snow mountain gods, and even their own ancestors. These cultural forces of faith and concern are actually also an important part of the protection of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey population.

Yunnan golden monkey family | Tuchong

The efforts of conservationists can help the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey population recover from danger. The local people's concept of living in harmony with nature can enable these hard-won populations to survive for a longer period of time. For the entire cause of biodiversity conservation, each of us should and can become the "Tibetans and Lisu people" in the story of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, and use the power of our attention to provide solid support for the protection of all wild animal and plant groups.

Unconsciously, our relationship with nature has become closer and closer.

Author: Jerez S