The staff at an east China animal park are
searching nationwide for a new mate for their male golden
snub-nosed monkey.
Sources from Qianjiang Evening News said
that Hangzhou Wild Animal World in Zhejiang
Province recently announced that their monkey has been
"depressed" ever since his mate died from blood poisoning in
2003.
Park staff said they have visited several zoos in neighboring
provinces, but could not find a suitable four-year-old female of
the same species.
Unique to China, the golden snub-nosed monkey, or
Rhinopithecus
roxellana, is under top state protection.
All three subspecies are classified as "vulnerable"
on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources' Red List, with the main threats described as
human-induced habitat loss and degradation.
According to recent surveys, only 10,000 to 15,000
survive in the wild in southwest China, with the largest
populations in Sichuan
Province.?
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2005)
