Long Yongcheng at 70: The Guardian of The Black Snub-nosed Monkey (1,200 Words)

Living at an elevation of up to 4700 metres, the endangered Black Snub-nosed Monkey is a species shrouded in mystery. I travelled to the remote mountains of the Tibetan Plateau to follow in the footsteps of their guardian, in his 70th year!

For centuries, the Black Snub-nosed Monkey remained a myth. A spirit inhabiting the remote mountains of the Tibetan Plateau. Living at elevations higher than any other non-human primate on Earth, official sightings were once almost unheard of. That is, aside from the illicit work of local hunters. It was in 1982 that the freshly graduated Long Yongcheng began an extraordinary journey that would change the fate of this endangered primate. His lifelong mission to study what local villagers call “the wild men of the mountains” began with the difficult task of convincing the local poachers — the true experts in tracking the species — to turn away from their livelihood and become, instead, conservationists. In September I embarked on an expedition in pursuit of this remarkable creature. I was helped by local guide and driver Peng Mei. Following in Long Yongcheng’s footsteps, we headed to the Baimaxueshan area of Northern Yunnan.

Black Snub-nosed Monkeys inhabit the Yunling Mountains of South-west China’s Yunnan province. Being on the southernmost ridge of the Tibetan Plateau, the elevation at which they live can reach as high as 4,700m. Because of this altitude, they have developed some remarkable adaptations. Their noses, like the 3 other species of the genus Rhinopithecus to which they belong, lack a dorsum structure or substantial covering of the cavity. They also have thick lips, abundant fur, and a trendy tuft of hair protruding from the tops of their heads. These adaptations help them avoid frostbite in the bitter cold.

Before the leading Chinese primatologist Long Yongcheng began his work with the species, they were on the verge of extinction. Habitat loss and hunting had made their survival near impossible. This year Long turns 70. He began exploring the wilderness of Yunnan and Tibet in the 1980's and has dedicated his career to saving the wonderful creature. An epicentre of the species can be found in the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Conservation Area (Baimaxueshan). In fact, this was the first area officially designated for their protection. In a piece he wrote for Sixth Tone in 2017, Long spoke of how there were no known photographs of the species, and how it was so rare that the staff at Baimaxueshan even “thought its fur was golden, not black.”

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At dawn, dark mist cloaks the mountains, immuring the impenetrable coniferous forest with a viscous shroud. We drive for hours along snaking, crumbling mountain roads. A wearied farmer passes in a half dismantled three-wheeled truck; exposed engine covered by just a frayed tarp. Our eyes do not meet. His are occupied by precarious roads, mine fixed on the expanse around us. Within the forest that covers these vast mountains; beneath the cloak of morning mist; live a fabled beast that many have dedicated their lives to saving.

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In the 1980s, when their population was even more fractured than it is now, Long had to resort to a novel and heart-warming technique to study the species. “Every time I arrived at a new place, I would track down the most proficient poachers in the area and hire them to guide me to the monkeys,” he says. The popularity of not just the Black Snub-nosed Monkey, but many other wild animals in China, for traditional medicine and food, meant that skilled hunters were able to make a career out of poaching. Long has become lifelong friends with some of them, and is eager to point out that at the time they were just making a life for themselves, “[they] quite literally viewed the snub-nosed monkey as fair game.” “Their bones alone could be exchanged for more than 50 kilograms of rice.” Proving themselves as pure-hearted, many of the hunters quickly became advocates for the species after being taught of their beauty from a scientific and environmental perspective. Some have even completely turned to conservation, and dedicated their lives to protecting the species. Long attributes much of the survival of the species to his achievement of converting the hunters.

Long was perhaps the pioneer of mapping and studying the Black Snub-nosed Monkeys, but others have also contributed hugely. Xi Zhinong, undoubtedly one of the world’s most highly revered nature photographers, committed swathes of time to the tracking, photographing and protecting the species. In the mid 1990s a logging concession from Beijing set their eyes on an area of Yunnan forest occupied by a colony of Black Snub-nosed Monkeys. Putting his job at the Yunnan Forestry Bureau in peril, Xi wrote open letters and campaigned tirelessly to prevent this atrocity from occurring. He was, thankfully, successful, despite being sacked from his job because of it! This success helped springboard his conservation and nature-documentation career to new levels and he has since become a leading light in the global conservation community.

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One rainy morning, as the woods clear and sombre daylight trickles through the desolate trees, we find what we have been searching for. There are about twenty of them. Young and old. Feeding, grooming, fighting. The show is immediately stolen by one charismatic adolescent. As my camera lens settles, she lets out a squeal and points at me, finger outstretched, trembling with excitement. Her eyes, like tiny obsidian pebbles, wildly pass from adult to adult, but the adults do not seem to care. They carry on, unbothered by the human presence. I can’t help but wonder, with a quiet sense of gratitude for those who came before me, about how not so long ago their meat, bones and hide was much sought after. Professor Long Yongcheng actually spoke about how “one day in 2008…an entire population of monkeys seemed to lose their fear of humans practically overnight.”

For a few hours we sit together in the sharp rain, sharing this small patch of forest, in this huge wilderness. Occasionally a fight breaks out amongst the young, or the alpha male scolds a younger contender. On the whole, however, they are a peaceful group. The adults are occupied by feeding and grooming; the young entertained by play and general mischief. Then, more quickly than they had arrived, the monkeys move on, up the mountain, to rest for the remainder of the day. Peng Mei and I, too, hike back to the road and return to normal life, the mundanity of which seems less troubling, as this experience will sit with us for a long time to come.

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Long Yongcheng, Xi Zhinong, and others have saved Yunnan’s Black Snub-nosed Monkeys from annihilation. Thanks to their dedication, the population is now stable, and Long’s legacy of working with reformed hunters has given rise to generations of proud conservationists. We can only hope that other trailblazers can continue to find the same level of passion for other similarly beautiful creatures on our planet. It is now more vital than ever, as another mass extinction looms. Whilst it is wonderful that this species is now living comfortably, they are just one species of many. If we can ever hope to preserve life on Earth as we know it, like Professor Long Yongcheng, we must turn every poacher away from killing and, like Xi Zhinong, hold every ruthless industrialist to account.

We have proof that it is possible.

Now…what are we waiting for?

Quotes taken from Long Yongchengs 2017 article for Sixth Tone, “How I Turned Yunnans Monkey Hunters Into Conservationists”:

https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1000246