GOLDEN SNUB-NOSED MONKEYS (GOLDEN MONKEYS) OF CHINA

GOLDEN SNUB-NOSED MONKEYS

golden snub-nosed monkey

Golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) are often called golden monkeys. They are found in remote parts of Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces in China. About 20,000 remain on Earth. Some 4,000 inhabit the Qin Ling Mountains of central China, where Chinese officials set up the Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve to protect them. They live both in and out of reserve boundaries. [Source: Jennifer S. Holland, National Geographic, February 2011]

Golden snub-nosed monkeys are elusive primates and have not been thoroughly studied at close quarters. Most research on the species has involved captive specimens or been based on limited observations of wild populations. Much about the behavior of these primates has yet to have been discovered. The lifespan of these monkeys has not been described, but individuals in the related species such douc langurs have lived to about 26 years in captivity. [Source: Peter Munoz, Animal Diversity Web (ADW)]

Golden snub-nosed monkeys live mainly in the high, cold forests of Sichuan, Gansu, Hubei and Shanxi Province, their habitat often overlapping with that of giant pandas. The golden snub-nosed monkey’s name in Chinese translates to "the blond lady who inhabits on the trees." They are found in temperate broad leaf and conifer forests at elevations ranging from 1,600 to 4,000 meters (5,250 to 13,123 feet). They monkeys live in mountain forests all year long, but migrate to lower elevations during the winter. Golden snub-nosed monkeys and other species in the genus Rhinopithecus are among the few primates who live in temperate zones, where the climate is similar to the that of the U.S. and Europe.

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

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey Characteristics

golden snub-nosed monkey range

Golden snub-nosed monkeys have a head and body length that ranges from 51 to 76 centimeters (22.4 to 29.9 inches). Their tail is between 51 and 72 centimeters (20 to 28 inches) long. Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Males are larger than females.

Coat color is sexually dimorphic too. Males and females have a golden belly, forehead and neck. Males have grayish black on the nape, shoulders, arms, back, head and tail. In females, these parts are brownish black. [Source: Peter Munoz, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The nose is flattened, with nostrils facing forward. Two flaps of skin on the widely opened nostrils form peaks that almost touch the forehead. Why the odd face? No one is sure, but Penn State primatologist Nina Jablonski told National Geographic the flat muzzle evolved to combat extreme cold, "which would cause frostbite to bare, exposed, fleshy noses." These monkeys also have thick, warm fur but they still need some help when it gets really frigid. Deep snow and bitterly cold temperatures are common throughout their habitat in the winter. To stay warm the monkeys huddle together on the branches of trees.

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey Feeding

Golden snub-nosed monkeys mainly live in the lush crowns of the trees and eat the shoots and the soft leaves of trees as well as the Spanish-moss-like sunlo lichen that hangs from branches and lumpy covering on the bark. [Source: Science Museum of China kepu.net.cn]

Golden snub-nosed monkeys are primarily herbivores (primarily eat plants or plants parts), folivores (eat leaves) and lignivores (eata wood). Among the plant foods they eat are leaves, wood, bark, or stems seeds, grains, and nuts lichens. [Source: Peter Munoz, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The diet of golden snub-nosed monkeys varies according to the season. During the warm months, they feed primarily on leaves from broad-leaf trees and fir and pine needles and to a lesser extent buds, bark, and fruit seeds. During the winter they switch to a more limited diet of bark and lichen. Although these monkey feeds largely from arboreal (tree) sources they will descend to the ground to feed on grasses and wild onions. /=\

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey Behavior

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Golden snub-nosed monkey Golden snub-nosed monkeys are arboreal (live mainly in trees), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary), and social (associates with others of its species; forms social groups). The usual home range for the species is 15 to 50 square kilometers. [Source:Peter Munoz, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Golden snub-nosed monkey live in territorial bands that can top 400 animals. Large social networks help fend off predators, like clouded leopards. Mothers outrank barren females and males with multiple mates gain high status. So do males that display "courage and perseverance," biologist Qi Xiao-Guang of Northwest University in Xian, China told National Geographic. Bands may clash when ranges overlap, and "males show their vigor by fighting and forcing the enemy out." Territorial animals, including these and other primates, often do more posturing than injuring — mainly to protect themselves.

The Golden snub-nosed monkey live both in the trees and the ground of the theropencedrymion or coniferous forest at an altitude of 1400 meters to 3200 meters. Moving about in groups during the day, the golden snub-nosed monkeys sleep in big trees in groups of three to five. They move vertically in accordance with the season. In summer, they live in the forest with at an altitude of about 3000 meters while getting down to the woods below 1500 meters in winter. They search for food and play in the trees or on the ground, but only rest in the trees. The diet of a golden snub-nosed monkey consists of plant sprouts, tender blossoms, barks, wild fruits and seeds, and bamboo shoots. [Source: Science Museum of China]

Peter Munoz wrote in Animal Diversity Web: Golden snub-nosed monkeys display a group behavior known as fission and fusion. This behavior, uncommon in primates, entails a seasonal formation of large groups alternating with a splintering into smaller groups. In the case of Golden snub-nosed monkeys, summer groups may contain as many as 600 individuals — an extraordinary number for any primate except humans. However, when cold weather begins to set in, the large group breaks up into subgroups of 60 to 70 individuals. The subgroups merge again in the spring. Possible factors in this phenomena include human disturbance and seasonal changes in food availability. Generally, subgroups consist of several single-male/multi-female family units, with the total number of individuals rarely falling below 40. /=\

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey Mating, Reproduction and Offspring

Golden snub-nosed monkeys are polygynous (males having more than one female as a mate at one time). They engage in seasonal breeding. Although showing no preference for seasons in breeding, the peak time of mating is between August and November. After a 193-to-203-day pregnancy, a golden snub-nosed monkey typically gives birth to a single offspring between March to May. The interbirth interval of these animals is not known with certainty. [Source: Peter Munoz, Animal Diversity Web(ADW) /=]

golden snub-nosed monkey mother and young

Within groups, the adult sex ratio of golden snub-nosed monkeys heavily favors females — with a 5:1 ratio observed in some groups. Peter Munoz wrote in Animal Diversity Web: During the mating season, copulation is usually solicited by the female, who signals her estrus with proceptive behaviors, such as establishing eye contact with the male and then running a short distance away. The female also signals readiness via prostration, which involves lying with the head hanging down, the forearms stretched out or bent, the legs curled up, and the tail angling freely. Often, the prostrating female will point her anogenital region toward the male. The male responds initially with a wide opening of his mouth, and if he is interested (only about 50 percent of the time) he will mount the female. Ejaculation occurs in only a small percentage of the unions during the mating season (and it never occurs outside the mating season). For this reason, the sequence of solicitation and mounting between a male and a female may occur several times a day during the three-month mating period. Due to the scarcity of male ejaculate, a female may try to thwart the solicitation of another female to improve her chances for a successful copulation. /=\

Data are not available on many of the reproductive parameters of these monkeys. However, like-sized primate typically breed every year to two years, depending upon food availability. Weaning usually occurs around one year of age. In golden snub-nosed monkeys nursing may extend for a longer period because of the harsh climate which these animals occupy. Females reach sexual or reproductive maturity at four to five years and males do so at age seven years. /=\

Mothers provide most of the care. Males have been observed grooming infants, however. Because of the social structure, which ensures that one male breeds with a group of several females, it is likely that this male, confident of his paternity, assists the females in some ways, by protecting offspring as well as by grooming them. In most primates, the period of dependence is fairly extended, and it is likely that this is the case for Golden snub-nosed monkeys. /=\

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey Communication

Golden snub-nosed monkeys communicate with vision, touch and sound and sense using vision, touch, sound and chemicals usually detected with smell. In addition to vocalizations described below, these monkeys communicate with body posture (presenting for mating, etc.), and tactile communication (mounting, mating, grooming, nursing). Chemical communication has not been reported, but may be present. [Source: Peter Munoz, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

According to Animal Diversity Web: Golden snub-nosed monkeys are a highly vocal species, with males and females specializing in certain calls. Male vocal behavior is characterized by whines (long, wavering cries that accompany grooming and eating) and bawls (short, exhaled cries that are not situation-specific). Female vocal behavior typically consists of chucks ("ee-tcha" sounds that occur in highly stimulating contexts) and shrills (squeaks and squeals uttered in response to male whines). Both sexes indulge in other vocalizations — grunts, sighs, moans, belches — but to a much lesser degree.

An interesting aspect of golden snub-nosed monkey vocalizations is the ventriloquist-like absence of any body or facial movement. This is particularly true of whines and shrills, which are often exchanged by males and females while they are eating. Captive male-female pairs of golden snub-nosed monkeys often vocalize in duets (joint displays, usually between mates, and usually with highly-coordinated sounds), not unlike those observed in some species of monogamous birds. In the wild, chorus-type vocalizations involving groups or sub-groups are common. /=\

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys, Humans and Conservation

On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List golden snub-nosed monkeys are listed as Endangered. On the US Federal List they are classified as Endangered. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix I, which lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants. [Source: Peter Munoz, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Golden snub-nosed monkeys are utilized by humans for food and as a source of medicine. They are hunted for fur and meat. The fur is sold for medicinal preparations and the meat is sold for food. The fur of these monkeys was once so highly valued that only the highest officials were allowed to wear it.

Golden snub-nosed monkeys have been protected since 1957 but their numbers are falling as a result of loss of habitat. Holland wrote, “Golden snub-nosed monkey are being squeezed by logging, human settlement, and hunters wanting meat, bones (said to have medicinal properties), and luxurious fur. Many have been pushed into high-altitude isolation, where they leap across branches, traverse icy rivers, and weather long winters at nearly 10,000 feet, shielded by that coveted coat. They have made great adaptations to survive, subsisting on low-protein lichens and bark when trees are bare."

Efforts to Save Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys in China

In 1995, 40 square miles of virgin rainforest, where golden snub-nosed monkeys live, in Deqin county in Yunnan was sold to logging companies whose environmental impact studies failed to even mention the monkeys. Of the 1,000 Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkeys that remain in the wild about 200 of them live in the Dequin forest. The main timber company involved in deal only sold enough timber to pay about half of its operating costs with the government subsidizing the rest.

A forestry worker from Yunnan named Xi Zhinong almost single-handedly saved the monkey by drawing public attention to its plight. He launched an effort to save the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey after witnessing the animal’s habitat destroyed by logging. After failing to win any support from Yunnan officials, who he said at one point "even hinted that they could make me disappear," Xi went to Beijing where he organized students into candle-light "Save the Monkey" demonstrations under banners that read "LIVE AND LET LIVE" and "FORESTS FOR THE FUTURE."

Petitions were sent to national leaders asking for help, the media picked up the story and college students camped in the monkey’s forest to draw publicity to the monkey’s plight. Photos by Xi of snub-nosed monkeys were widely circulated. They captured people’s hearts and helped win support for he effort to save the forest.

The logging plans were eventually halted and the habitat was saved. Xi lost his job in the forestry department but his photos helped launch a new career as a photographer and he is now China’s most sought-after wildlife photographer. China's first and, for a time, only recognized environmental group, Friends of Nature, grew out of the effort to save the golden snub-nosed monkey. The forest home of the monkeys became a wildlife refuge.

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3) Chinese Science Museum ; 4, 5) CBCF Primate info; 6) Animal info file; 7, 9) Kostich ; 8) CNTO

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