Home>>By Class>>Mammal>>Primates

Rhinopithecus avunculus

2022-12-28 19:29:21 198

Rhinopithecus avunculus Life habits and morphological characteristics

The Vietnamese snub-nosed monkey is a primate, with the male being larger. The head and body are 51-65 cm long, and the tail is 66-92 cm long; males weigh 13.8-14 kg, and females weigh 8.3-8.5 kg. It is an unusual and unique monkey, with a broad, flat face, a flat, upturned nose, tufts on the ears, pale blue rings around the eyes, and thick pink lips, giving the entire head an almost comical appearance. The back, the outside of the limbs and the hands and feet are all black, and the fur between the shoulders may become more brown; while the buttocks, the inside of the limbs and the elbows are creamy white; the forehead and cheeks are also cream; there is a blue-black color near the lips, and there is an orange throat patch, which is most prominent in adult males. It has a long dark brown tail, white hair on the head, and a white tuft on the top of the head.
The fur of young monkeys is gray, not black as in adults, and darkens with age, lacking the orange patch on the throat, and the

Rhinopithecus avunculus Distribution range and habitat

Historically, the Vietnamese snub-nosed monkey lived in large numbers east of the Red River. As of 2008, they were confined to low-altitude subtropical rainforests in the limestone mountains between Tuyen Quang and Bac Thai provinces in northern Vietnam.
They inhabit hills and mountains formed by karst limestone and associated subtropical evergreen forests at altitudes of 200-1200 meters. The species is mainly restricted to primary forests. They do not migrate horizontally with the change of seasons, but only move vertically in their habitat.

Rhinopithecus avunculus Detailed Introduction

Vietnamese golden monkey (scientific name: Rhinopithecus avunculus) is also known as Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey in foreign language, and has no subspecies.

5366d0160924ab1827d4f0563efae6cd7a890b94_九雷图片转化为.jpg

Vietnamese golden monkeys move in small groups, usually consisting of one male and multiple females, or groups of multiple males, with multiple small groups sharing a habitat. They are active during the day, crawling on all fours, climbing and jumping, and even hanging from branches. Although some activities also occur on the ground, they usually pass through the forest canopy and spend more time in the trees.

The Vietnamese golden monkey feeds on plants, and its food changes with the seasons. It consists of a series of leaves, fruits, flowers and seeds.
Like other golden monkeys of the same genus, females of the Vietnamese golden monkey mature earlier than males, at about 4-5 years old for females and about 7 years old for males. They mate all year round, but the peak mating period is from September to November, with a gestation period of about 7 months, and most of the babies are born in March and April, with one baby per litter.
In a family unit, there is only one adult male monkey who is the "head of the family", so if many female monkeys want to mate with male monkeys, they need to "compete for the job". Sometimes, the competition for mates is more intense, and there will be two or three female monkeys lying on the ground at the same time. The unsuccessful female monkeys will not be discouraged and will continue to mate after a few days. The "parent" has many choices and will choose the female monkey he likes most to reproduce, or he may always ignore a passionate female monkey. During the mate invitation process, female monkeys always "change their tricks" to attract the adult male monkeys who are the "parents". They often change the posture and location of invitations, such as running from the ground to the tree, trying to attract the attention of the adult male monkeys who are the "parents" and get a chance to mate.

The Vietnamese golden monkey is distributed in northern Vietnam and is very rare. Due to the destruction of the ecological environment, forest degradation and fragmentation, extensive deforestation caused by human planting, development, road construction, legal and illegal logging, gold mining and commercial collection of non-timber forest products are the main reasons for the extinction of this species. Although Vietnam's national protection strategy began to be implemented in 1985, the implementation has been poor. Conservation measures include planning protected areas and prohibiting hunting, but the situation facing this species is still not optimistic. Even if the Na Hang Nature Reserve is established, the probability of extinction of the Vietnamese golden monkey is still high. A study by the Tat Ke Department of the Na Hang Nature Reserve in Vietnam in 1993 estimated the density to be less than 8 per square kilometer; a later study in 2004-2005 found a much lower density. Since this species may appear in other areas where it has not been recorded, the global population may actually be higher, estimated at about 250 (2006).

Listed in the 2008 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver3.1-Critically Endangered (CR).

National first-class protected terrestrial wildlife.


Protect wild animals and stop eating game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!