The Critically Endangered Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus Strykeri Found in the Salween River Basin, China

The Critically Endangered Myanmar snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus strykeri found in the Salween River Basin, China

Y IN Y ANG,YING-PING T IAN,CHEN-XIANG H E ,ZHIPANG H UANG S HAO-HUA D ONG,BIN W ANG,GUANG-SONG L I ,ZUO-FU X IANG Y ONG-CHENG L ONG and W EN X IAO

Abstract The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus was discovered the following year in Pianma on the western strykeri was discovered in  on the western slopes of the slopes of Gaoligong Mountains, in Yunnan, China (Fig. ; Gaoligong Mountains in the Irrawaddy River basin in Long et al., ). Rhinopithecus strykeri primarily inhabits Myanmar and subsequently in the same river basin in mid-montane moist evergreen broad-leaved forest and con- China, in . Based on  years of surveying the remote iferous broad-leaved mixed forest (Geissmann et al., ; and little disturbed forest of the Gaoligong Mountains Chen et al., ). Genetic evidence indicates that it sepa- National Nature Reserve in China, with outline transect rated from the R. bieti clade in the Late Pleistocene, sampling and infrared camera monitoring, a breeding c. . million years ago (Liedigk et al., ) when two group comprising .  individuals was found on the east- major barriers, the Mekong and the Salween Rivers, may ern slopes of the Gaoligong Mountains in the Salween River have physically isolated segments of the parent population. Basin. Given the Critically Endangered status of this primate All species of snub-nosed monkeys are reported to live in a (a total of ,  individuals are estimated to remain in the multilevel or modular society, composed of several one- wild), efforts to protect the relatively undisturbed habitat of male harem breeding units that travel together to form a this newly discovered population and to prevent hunting are band, and one or more all-male units that follow the band essential for the long-term survival of this species. (Kirkpatrick & Grueter, ). Interviews (Geissmann et al., ; Ma et al., ) Keywords China, Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, new suggested there may be up to  groups of Myanmar snub- population, Rhinopithecus strykeri, Salween River nosed monkeys, with a total population of ,  individuals, in four separate areas close to the Sino-Myanmar border: one he snub-nosed monkey genus Rhinopithecus was previ- in Pianma, China, and three in Myanmar. In China field ob- ously thought to comprise four rare, threatened pri- servations of R. strykeri in Pianma have been conducted T   mates (R. avunculus, R. bieti, R. brelichi and R. roxellana), since (Chen et al., ), although limited behavioural known only from isolated parts of southern China and nor- data have been collected because of the rugged terrain and thern Vietnam (IUCN, ). Rhinopithecus strykeri, known long rainy season from April to October. This group, with .   –  as the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, or Nujiang snub- individuals, lives at , , m and has an esti-     nosed monkey in China, was discovered in  in forests mated home range of . km (Chen et al., ).  above , m altitude in Kachin state, north-east Ma et al. ( ) predicted the species would also occur on Myanmar (Geissmann et al., ). A second population the eastern slope of the Gaoligong Mountains, in China, where we searched during October –September  (see search area in Fig. ). One or two researchers, with two field guides, searched for the species using outline trans- YIN YANG*, ZHIPANG HUANG,SHAO-HUA DONG†,ZUO-FU XIANG‡,YONG-CHENG LONG§ (Corresponding author) and WEN XIAO (Corresponding author) ects (Plumptre et al., ) along each sub-ridge, during Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, .–., – weeks per month depending on weather. Yunnan, 671003, P.R. China. E-mail YONG-CHENG LONG [email protected]; .  WEN XIAO [email protected] We located the species, and took photographs and  videos (Plate ). We also found evidence of chewed YING-PING TIAN,CHEN-XIANG HE,BIN WANG and GUANG-SONG LI Lushui Bureau of Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, Liuku, Yunnan, P.R. China branches and faeces consistent with those collected from *Also at: School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National the species at other sites. University, Canberra, Australia In addition, we set up  camera traps (Acorn Ltl- †Also at: Lushui Bureau of Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, Liuku, Yunnan, P.R. China MC, Shenzhen Ltl Acorn Electronics, China) during ‡Also at: Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, P.R. April–September , on wildlife trails and in five food China trees, at a height of – m. The trees were three toufucha §Also at: Sino-France Joint Lab for Wildlife Management & Ecosystem Health, Yunnan Finance & Economy University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650221, P.R. China Gamblea ciliata and two shanxiangguo Dodecadenia gran- Received  April . Revision requested  July . diflora, which were identified by our local guides as feeding Accepted  August . First published online  November . trees for the species. We obtained  successive infrared

Oryx, 2018, 52(1), 134–136 © 2016 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605316000934 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.226, on 24 Sep 2021 at 17:54:49, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605316000934 Myanmar snub-nosed monkey 135

FIG. 1 Locations of the known populations of Rhinopithecus strykeri in the Sino-Myanmar border region.

camera-trap photographs of the species in one event. The c.  infant and juvenile monkeys. Given the sex-age ratios camera trap was in one of the toufucha tree crowns. of males to females (:.), females to infants (.:), and We collected faeces on  May ,at, m, and con- adults to immatures (.:) in the Pianma R. strykeri popu- firmed they were the faeces of Myanmar snub-nosed mon- lation (Li et al., ), we tentatively estimate that this popu- keys based upon their shape, size and contents, which lation comprises .  individuals. included the remains of leaves and conifer needles. At The Luoma population lies c.  km in a straight line . on  September  we observed Myanmar snub- south-east of the Pianma population reported by Long nosed monkeys fighting and vocalizing loudly in a patch et al. () and  km south-east of the Myanmar site re- of hemlock Tsuga dumosa–bamboo–rhododendron forest; ported by Geissmann et al. (). The Luoma population they then moved to a sleeping site on the ridge of the moun- lives in the core zone of the Gaoligong Mountain National tain at about .. The next day we followed them during Nature Reserve,  day’s walk from the nearest village. The .–.. We ceased to follow the group thereafter because forests are mostly mixed broad-leaf–hemlock forest or hem- of heavy rain and dense fog. We had followed the group for lock–rhododendron forest at ,–, m, and are mostly approximately ½ hours, at a mean travel speed of . m pristine, with little anthropogenic disturbance. Compared to per hour. Assuming that the group would have continued the declining populations in Myanmar (c.  individuals; travelling and foraging for at least another ½ hours, we Geissmann et al., ) and Pianma (c.  individuals; estimate the snub-nosed monkeys would have travelled Chen et al., ), which have suffered from the threat of c. , m on that day. hunting and habitat degradation (Geissmann et al., ; To estimate group size we reviewed the  infrared photo- Yin Yang, pers. obs.), the Luoma population may have po- graphs, identifying  adult or subadult monkeys, with  tential to be a source population for the formation of new appearing in photographs during .–. and eight in additional R. strykeri populations, and therefore requires photographs during .–.. The mean passing rate of strict and effective conservation management. snub-nosed monkeys was . individuals per minute. Additionally, living in forests dominated by hemlock, the Given that several distinguishable adult males appeared in ecology of the Luoma population may differ from that of the these photographs, and none of the monkeys were carrying other populations, which inhabit moist evergreen broad- infants, we assume these individuals were members of an leaved forests. Based on  interviews with local people in all-male unit. In addition, on one occasion we observed the region, individuals of this population may travel to forests

Author contributions

YY, Y-CL and WX conceived the research. C-XH, BW and G-SL facilitated the field work. YY, Y-PT, C-XH, ZH, S-HD, BW and G-SL led the long-term field research. YY, Y-PT, ZH and S-HD performed the analyses and mapping. YY wrote the article with input from Y-CL, Z-FX and WX.

References

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