baimaxueshan mountains national

park

Yunnan's Deqin County lies between the Mekong and Yangtze rivers in the western part of the ecoregion. It is bordered by Sichuan province to the north and Tibet to the west. With elevations between 1500 and 5400 meters, the county is characterized by deep valleys and tall mountains, which have created extremely diverse climate, soil, and vegetation patterns, and unique and fragile ecosystems.

Baimaxueshan (literally, White Horse Snow Mountain) is one of over twenty 5000m plus peaks in the area, and gives its name to the nature reserve which today covers one-third of the county. It is believed that it was this region that inspired James Hilton's classic utopian narrative of Shangrila, The Lost Horizon. The upland temperate forests found here and elsewhere in southwest China are the most bio-diverse in the world, with thousands of endemic plant and animal species.

There are 3 species of golden monkeys in China, which are ordinary golden monkey, Guizhou golden monkey and Yunnan golden monkey. In the Great Snow Mountain Region at the juncture of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet, there is a kind of valuable and rare golden monkey that is little-known to people. This is the Yunnan golden monkey, a world-rare treasure unique to China.

Covered with black hair, Yunnan golden monkey is called "black monkey" as well. It is also locally called "snow monkey" or " white monkey" because its cub is completely white when it is young, and it gradually changes its color into black later. Yunnan golden monkey has a long tail, that is a good match for its body. A likable animal, it has upturned nostrils and it wears a comic expression. Its thick red lips similar to human lips show a peculiar feature in its face, which cannot be found in all the other primates. Research in­dicates that Yunnan golden monkey is at the highest level in evolu­tion among all the monkeys, being on the position of evoluting from monkey to ape. This facial characteristics might be one of the marks testifying its highest level in evolution.

The body of Yunnan golden monkey is smaller and lighter than ordinary golden monkey and Guizhou golden monkey, normally weighing only around 15 kilograms according to the weight of the specimen. In: 1962, however, a male Yunnan golden monkey weighed 35 kilograms. Yunnan golden monkey is gregarious animal, whose population often ranges from dozens to over 100 individuals. Ac­cording to a recent survey, only 13 natural populations of Yunnan golden monkeys exist, totaling about 1,000 to 1,500 monkeys. At least 5 populations of Yunnan golden monkey totaling about around 350 monkeys dwell in this national park, where each population occupies a territory with nonaggression.

Historic records show that Yunnan golden monkey had once been found in a very wide range in China in the ancient times. Later, however, because of the disturbances and destruction by human activities, its habitats greatly shrank, and they were compelled to retreat into the disconnected cold fir forests on the high mountains in the 5 counties: Mangkang County of Tibet, Deqin County, Weixi County, Lanping County and Lijiang County of Yunnan Province, a very small area at the juncture between Yunnan and Tibet in the Yunling Mountain Range beside the Jinsha River and the Lancang River. All the existing Yunnan golden monkeys dwell in the sepa­rated habitats like isolated islands, which give them no chance for mutual visits and exchanges of gene.

This national park is the center of the ranges for Yunnan golden monkey, who is a kind of monkey that inhabits in the subalpine coniferous forests at the elevation between 3,200 to 4,000 meters, the highest habitat in elevation among all the monkey species, where very thick mantle of snow accumulates in winter although yet the monkey's fur is thick enough to keep it warm. The monkey is a tree­living animal who has a monotonous diet, with sun-Io (Usnea longissima), a kind of black-gray parasitic plant in fir trees, as its staple food, and shoots and buds of conifers as its supplementary food. In May to July, it occasionally descends to the ground to eat fresh bamboo shoots and tender bamboos. In autumn, it enjoys vari­ous wild fruits and berries, occasionally pests and bird eggs. They often crowd against one another, bustle and give laud cries Wu-Wa, Wu-Wa when they snatch food. They make joyful noise Ga-Ga simi­lar to that of jackdaw when they catch sight of a tree with fruits hanging in clusters. Its cub screams Wo-Wo when looking for its mother. You can see the affectionate picture when a mother monkey holds its baby in her arms if you go to the dense forests in the deep mountains. Leopard, golden cat, wolf, jackal, lynx and other beasts are Yunnan golden monkey's predators who launch sneak attack upon adult monkeys, while eagle-owl, vulture and other birds-of-

prey plunder cubs. They often, however, fail to get what they want because the monkeys are well-organized and extraordinarily leery. When they encounter danger, the head of the monkey herd gives warning cries to its herd members, who scud at once in the crowns and show a clean pair of heels in surprising speed. In a twinkle, all of them disappeared. In fact, human beings pose the greatest threat to the monkey because the monkeys are always in herds, and their big bodies reveal their positions in trees, giving a clear view and easy killing opportunity to hunters.

Famous as one of the world's rarest animals, or a world's treasure, Yunnan golden monkey is not only appealing in the soci­ety in the protection of valuable and rare animals, but also plays some role in maintaining the balance of natural ecosystem. Sun-Io, its staple food, inhibits the normal growth of fir trees and can stifle fir trees to death if fir trees are overgrown with sun-Io. But underde­velopment of sun-Io will give rise to insufficient food supply for Yunnan golden monkey. During the long period of struggle for ex­istence and the long-term biological evolution, Yunnan golden mon­key seems aware of how to control the growing quantity of sun-Io. They, therefore, prowl in fir trees in a wide area so that they can have sufficient food while keeping the growth of sun-Io under control, preventing the damage to fir trees caused by over-growth of sun-Io. Fir trees provide food and shelter for Yunnan golden

monkey, who purges away "blood-suckers" from fir trees. The 3 aspects, fir-sun-lo- Yunnan golden monkey, are interdependent, condition each other, and eventually maintain the equilibrium of natural ecosystem.

The poor Yunnan golden monkey survivors are hunted everywhere. Their lives are in imminent danger and they are in a precarious state. At the same time, the forests on which their sur­vival and multiplication heavily depend are cut in large quantity for commercial purpose and for economic interest. There will be a loss of habitats and possible extinction for many plants and animals if the cutting continues. The monkeys, therefore, cannot take shelter in their habitat, but they are compelled to hide themselves and to seek sanctuaries here and there. A small number of the monkeys who dwell in the national park cannot escape this misfortune neither. Consequently; Yunnan golden monkey is in danger and on the verge of extinction. It shares the similarity with giant panda in number and situation. Some foreign zoologist, therefore, thinks that Yunnan golden monkey is the second world valuable animal except giant panda. Fortunately, the alarm has been sounded, and efforts are under way to restore the ecological balance. Now it is placed into the World Red Data Book of Protected Endangered Animals, and it is the key animal at the first level protected by the state in China called "The second national treasure".