SNUB-NOSED MONKEYS: BEHAVIOR, NEW SPECIES

SNUB-NOSED MONKEYS

Black snub-nosed monkey in Yunnan

Snub-nosed monkeys are Old World monkeys that make up the genus Rhinopithecus. The genus is rare and not fully researched. There are five species. They live southern China (especially Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou) and northern parts of Myanmar and Vietnam generally in mountain forests up to elevations of more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). Some taxonomists group snub-nosed monkeys together with the genus Pygathrix (The doucs or douc langurs).

Snub-nosed monkeys monkeys are named for the short stump of a nose on their round faces, with nostrils arranged forward. They have relatively multicolored and long fur, particularly at the shoulders and backs. Their diet consists mainly of tree needles, bamboo buds, fruits and leaves. A multi-chambered stomach helps them with digesting their food. Snub-nosed monkeys grow to a length of 51 to 83 centimeters (20–33 inches. They .have a head and body length between 40 and 67 centimeters (16 and 26.3 inches) and a tail length of 55 to 97 centimeters (22 and 38 inches) . They spend most of their time in trees but come to ground for some feeding and social activities. If threatened they can race through the upper levels of the canopy at great speeds. [Source: Wikipedia]

Snub-nosed monkeys (also known as snub-nosed langurs) are able to survive in cold temperatures better than any other primate. They live in areas that are covered in snow as much as half of the year; endure winters with sub zero temperatures, although during the winter they usually descend to lower elevations and move into the deeply secluded regions.

Snub-nosed monkeys are among the most endangered primate species in Asia. They have been hunted for centuries for their pelts and body parts, for Chinese medicine. The Manchu valued their pelage (fur) which was believed to ward off rheumatism. There are only a few hundred or a few thousand left of each species. But little is known about them in part because the high-elevation areas they live in are remote and difficult for humans to reach. All Rhinopithecus species inhabit primary forest and grid cells with tree cover of more than 75 percent. Deforestation and habitat loss are seen as the monkeys' main threat.

Websites and Resources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; BBC Earth bbcearth.com; A-Z-Animals.com a-z-animals.com; Live Science Animals livescience.com; Animal Info animalinfo.org ; World Wildlife Fund (WWF) worldwildlife.org the world’s largest independent conservation body; National Geographic National Geographic ; Endangered Animals (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) iucnredlist.org

Snub-Nosed Monkey Behavior

Snub-nosed monkeys spend most of their life in the trees, feeding on leaves, lichens, bamboo shoots, buds and fruit.. They live together in very large groups of up to 600 members, splitting up into smaller groups in times of food-scarcity, such as in the winter. Groups consist of many more males than females. A typical group has a single male, three to five females and their young. Dominant males sometimes fight with rivals who want to claim their females. Groups claim a temporary territory of four to 50 square kilometers and change every month. If two different groups meet they usually avoid a conflict and head in different directions.

Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys

Snub-nosed monkeys have territorial instincts, defending their territory mostly with shouts. They have a large vocal repertoire, calling sometimes solo while at other times together in choir-like fashion. The most frequent vocalization, “ga-ga,” is shrieked out loudly when a food source is found. They cover between 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters a day when they forage. [Source: Wikipedia]

Golden snub-nosed monkeys are matriarchal and generally relatively peaceful. PBS caught on film a rare fight sequence between two adult males. PBS said: They would furiously slap each other for about 10 seconds and bound away, then return to repeat the performance. Later, we saw the energetic babies play-fight with one another, imitating the adults.” [Source: Frontline, pbs.org, April 22, 2006]

Males usually reach sexual maturity when they are seven; females when they are four or five. Birth usually take place in the spring or summer after a 200 day gestation period. Usually one, sometimes two, young are born. The initiation for mating starts with the female. She takes up eye contact with the male and runs away a short bit, then flashes her genitals. If the male shows interest (which does not always occur), he joins the female and they mate. Young animals become fully mature in about six to seven years. Zoologists know little about their lifespan.

Snub-Nosed Monkey Species

There are five related species of snub-nosed monkey. Jennifer S. Holland wrote in National Geographic, They are “remnants of once widespread populations whose ranges were squeezed by climate change after the last ice age. Their scientific name, Rhinopithecus roxellana, was allegedly inspired by the snub-nosed concubine of a 1500s sultan. [Source: Jennifer S. Holland, National Geographic, February 2011]

Black-and-White Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti, A. Milne-Edwards, 1897) are gray in color and live in Southern China. They are 74–83 centimeters (29–33 inches) long, with a 51–72 centimeter (20–28 inch) tail. They live in forests and eat leaves, fruit, and lichen. They are endangered. There are 1,000 of them. Their population is steady. [Source: Wikipedia]

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana, A. Milne-Edwards, 1870) are brown in color and live in Central China. There are three subspecies: 1) R. r. hubeiensis (Hubei golden snub-nosed monkey); 2) R. r. qinlingensis (Qinling golden snub-nosed monkey); and 3) R. r. roxellana (Moupin golden snub-nosed monkey). These monkeys are 57–76 centimeters (22–30 inches) long, with a 51–72 centimeter (20–28 inch) tail. They live in forests and eat leaves, bark, and lichen, as well as buds and fruit seeds. They are endangered.Their numbers are unknown. Their population is declining.

Gray Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus brelichi Thomas, 1903) are brown monkeys. They live in Central China. They are About 64–73 centimeters (25–29 inches) long, with a 70–97 centimeter (28–38 inch) tail. They live in forests and eat leaves, buds, fruit, seeds and bark, as well as insect larvae. They are critically endangered. There are 200 of them. Their population is declining.

Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus strykeri, Geissmann et al., 2010) are gray monkeys. They live in Northern Myanmar. They are About 56 centimeters (22 inches) long, with a 78 centimeter (31 inch) tail. They live in forests and eat leaves, fruit, seeds, buds, flowers, twigs, and bark. They are critically endangered. There are 350–400 of them. Their population is declining.

Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus avunculus, Dollman, 1912) are gray in color and live in Northern Vietnam. They are 51–65 centimeters (20–26 inches) long, with a 66–92 centimeter (26–36 inch) tail. They live in forests and eat leaves, fruit, flowers, and seeds. They are critically endangered. There are only around 250 of them. Their population is declining.

Species and Subspecies of Snub-Nosed Monkeys in China

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Guizhou snub nose monkey In China, there are three main mountain species of snub-nosed monkey: 1) the black snub-nosed monkey; 2) the Yunnan snub-nose monkey; and the 3) Sichuan golden snub-nose monkey. There is another species that lives in the lowlands; the Guizhou snub-nose monkey. The pig-tailed snub-nose monkey, Guizhou snub-nose monkey, and black snub-nose monkey are endangered.

The Yunnan Golden Monkey is one of the most threatened species in China. It lives in virgin forests in the mountains southeast of the Tibetan Plateau. The Sichuan golden snub-nose monkey has orange shoulders, a white muzzle and a blue nose. It lives in mixed bamboo, conifer and deciduous forests up to 3,150 meters. Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys are rarely seen and were thought to be extinct in the 1960s

The Yunnan snub-nose monkey has predominately black shoulders. It lives in temperate mountain forests from 3,000 to 4,000 meters, an environment with snow and below freezing temperatures for several months a year. Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys spend most of their time in conifer forest at high elevations but occasionally they climb down to lower elevations to look for food in the broadleaf forests. Lichens stripped from the bark of spruce and fir trees are their main sources of food. Photographer Xi Zhinong told National Geographic, “I found out these monkeys have highways of their own. They always jump from one tree to another at the same spot.”

Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkey — New Species

The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) was first described by scientists in 2010 after it was sighted in Kachin state in northeastern Myanmar. An expedition in China led by Yongcheng Long from the Nature Conservancy China Program photographed a group of these monkeys near Pianma, in Yunnan's Lushui County The photos were published in the American Journal of Primatology in July 2012. “Rhinopithecus strykeri is named in honor of Jon Stryker, President and Founder of the Arcus Foundation, which helped fund the initial research. The monkey is know locally as mey nwoah or the 'monkey with an upturned face'.[Source: mongabay.com, July 27, 2012]

The species is critically endangered in China and Myanmar, due to its low population. "The population of this species is hard to estimate, but based on our contacts with the monkey group both in October 2011 and in March 2012 we estimate the population to be less than 100 individuals," said Long. "However, while we now know the home range to be far greater than previously believed, we still do not yet know the true population number or the extent of their home range as the monkeys are shy and very hard to access."

"This monkey group was actually found in an area designated as a nature reserve 30 years ago and while local people have been hunting the species for ages, local managers knew nothing about it," Long said. "This highlights the need to improve wildlife management in China, as it is likely quite a few new species of plants and animals may be discovered in the border areas between China and Myanmar."

Discovery of the Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkey

Hunters' reports led scientists to discover the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey in the northern forests of Myanmar. Jeremy Hance wrote in mongabay.com, “. Discovered by biologists from the Myanmar Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association with support from primatologists with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the People Resources and Biodiversity Foundation, the strange looking primate added a fifth member to the the snub-nosed monkey family. The small single population is threatened by Chinese logging and hunting. [Source: Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com, October 26, 2010]

Described in the American Journal of Primatology, the new monkey, was only discovered after researchers heard reports from hunters of a strange monkey with upturned nostrils and prominent lips. It is known locally as mey nwoah,or 'monkey with an upturned face'. Locals have an easy time finding the species, since, according to them, it sneezes whenever it rains. Rainwater collects on the monkey's upturned noses causing them to sneeze. To combat this, the monkeys spend their rainy days with heads tucked between legs.

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Yunnan snub-nosed monkey The new primate is especially notable for being the only snub-nosed monkey known in Myanmar. The other four snub-nosed monkey species are found in parts of China and Vietnam. Frank Momberg, FFI’s Regional Program Development Coordinator in the Asia Pacific and co-author of the paper, told mongabay.com that this new species proves "snub-nosed monkeys must have had a much largest distribution in China and adjacent areas in the past," adding that "[the new species] is most closely related to the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. However, the two species are morphologically very distinct and are now separated by two major species barriers, the Salween and the Mekong River."

National Geographic reported: Based on talks with the Lisu hunters, scientists estimate that only about 300 of these monkeys remain—few enough to qualify R. strykeri for "critically endangered" status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. The discovery of a new monkey in Myanmar proves just how little we know about the country's wildlife according to Momberg. "There is plenty of more species to be discovered [in Myanmar], even mammal species. Myanmar is a priority country for biodiversity conservation with currently the second highest deforestation rate in Asia after Indonesia."

First Photographs of the Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkey

In 2012, mongabay.com reported, a remote camera trap took the first ever photo of the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey. At that time no scientist has ever seen a living individual.Just setting the camera traps in April 2011 proved incredibly difficult with the expedition battling both snow and rain. The species is only known from a carcass killed by a local hunter."These images are the first record of the animal in its natural habitat," said Ngwe Lwin, a native to Myanmar, who first recognized that the primate may be a new species. "It is great to finally have photographs because they show us something about how and where it actually lives." [Source: Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com, January 10, 2012]

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Yunnan snub-nosed monkey "We were dealing with very tough conditions in a remote and rugged area that contained perhaps fewer than 200 monkeys," explains photographer Jeremy Holden, who led the team. "We didn’t know exactly where they lived, and had to rely on information gathered from hunters; I didn’t hold out much hope." Still a month after setting up the camera traps, the scientists had the first photographic evidence of a living Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, including family groups. "We were very surprised to get these pictures," said biologist Saw Soe Aung. "It was exciting to see that some of the females were carrying babies—a new generation of our rarest primate."

Long Yongcheng, scientist with the Nature Conservancy in China, told the China Daily that his team have discovered 50-100 Myanmar snub-nosed monkeys in the Gaoligong Mountain Natural Reserve near the border with Myanmar in Yunnan Province. Chinese scientists were able to photograph and even videotape the species. But it was the monkey's scat and fur that proved it was the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey: DNA tests showed a 98.2 percent match with the species in Myanmar. [Source: Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com, May 16, 2012]

Protecting the Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkey

National Geographic reported that soon after the first known specimen of the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey was shown to scientists he hunters that killed it ate it. One hunter told Frank Momberg, FFI's Asia-Pacific development director, they hunt them in the rainy season in the rainy season because: “ It's much easier to find them'" due to the sound. "Hunters hunt them more often in the rainy season, because they are much easier to locate—normally they're pretty quiet,” he said.

Jeremy Hance wrote in mongabay.com: Researchers believe only 260-330 individuals survive of the new species, which would rank it as Critically Endangered according to IUCN Red List standards. Unfortunately, the new species faces a large variety of threats. "Snub-nosed monkey get frequently trapped in traps laid out for bears. Local hunters also use shotguns. Until 8 years ago hunting was primarily for subsistence use only. Since Chinese logging roads are moving closer, hunting is now increasingly supplying bushmeat for local logging and dam construction camps, as well as feeding into the wildlife trade to China," Momberg says. [Source: Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com, October 26, 2010; January 10, 2012]

Snub-nosed monkeys are imperiled by hunting and trapping, but it may be logging that ultimately does them in. In 2010 Frank Momberg, FFI’s Regional Program Development Coordinator in the Asia Pacific, told mongabay.com that hunting in the remote region had recently moved beyond subsistence only: with Chinese logging roads infiltrating the area there has been a rise in commercial bushmeat hunting. At the time, Momberg also warned that the logging roads were expected to move into Myanmar snub-nosed monkey territory by 2011. Myanmar has one of world's the highest deforestation rates, which is at least partly driven by China's rising demand for commodities. Between 1990 and 2010, Myanmar lost 19 percent of its forest cover, or around 7,445,000 hectares, an area larger than Ireland.

"By next year Chinese logging companies will have moved into the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey range, which will cause serious degradation of their habitat and increase hunting pressure," Momberg says. Saving the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey will require quick work on many different issues, according to Momberg. First, the Chinese government must "crackdown on illegal Chinese logging in the area" and "step-up law enforcement of CITES regulations by Chinese customs officers to reduce trans-border illegal wildlife trade."

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated December 2024