Forest rangers safeguard 'special child of the Earth'

There are only about 800 Guizhou golden monkeys in the world, making them even rarer than giant pandas. They are a national first-class protected wild animal in China and are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

China is home to three species of rare golden monkeys, and of them the Guizhou golden monkey has the smallest population. They can only be found in the Fanjing Mountain National Nature Reserve in the northeastern part of Guizhou province, earning them the nickname "the special, and only child of the Earth".

There are still many unanswered questions about the Guizhou golden monkey, or Guizhou snub-nosed monkey. To gain a better understanding of this precious animal, the Fanjing Mountain Administration's forest rangers have been conducting regular patrols. The administration has also been improving its monitoring systems, providing valuable data on the population, distribution, habitat, and threats to the monkeys, which serves as a scientific reference for conservation efforts.

Fanjing Mountain is home to over 7,100 species of wild plants and animals. The nature reserve was established in 1978 and designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1986. Covering an area of over 77,500 hectares, it was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.

Li Guobin, 58, is one of the hundreds of forest rangers on Fanjing Mountain who has been protecting it for 15 years. He can identify different animals by their feces and distinguish various plants.

Li said that the forest rangers patrol the mountain for 25 days each month, searching for traces of wildlife activity and documenting the distribution of rare plants.

"Even in winter, nothing changes. The temperature mostly stays below freezing, and when it rains, the ground becomes slippery," he said. Li usually brings a bottle of strong liquor to keep warm. "I feel extremely proud that I can help protect our country's rare animals and plants."

Dong Wandai, 36, has been working at a monitoring station in the reserve for ten years. "Our main task is to monitor the activities of the Guizhou golden monkeys and the surrounding environmental changes. We also conduct field patrols in their habitats to ensure their safety," he said.

Li Haibo from the administration's science and education department explained that to better protect and observe the Guizhou golden monkeys, the administration has set up four video surveillance systems in the reserve.

They have also installed 48 sets of visible light and infrared thermal-imaging monitoring systems and established monitoring stations in the core area where the golden monkeys are active. The administration has installed 420 infrared cameras in total and deployed six drones.

"Since 2016, we have been using infrared cameras to monitor the golden monkeys and, for the first time, discovered their nocturnal activities, proving the phenomenon of nonhuman primates being active at night," Li Haibo said.