Phayre's leaf monkey found in bulk in west Yunnan

More than 200 Phayre's leaf monkeys were recently discovered by local eco-conservation volunteers in west Yunnan’s Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, who were photographing in the wilderness of the Xuangang township.

The Yunnan discovery makes the biggest of its kind in China. Phayre's leaf monkeys mostly live in groups of around 30 monkeys in areas off the western bank of the Nujiang River in southwest China’s Yunnan, with the recorded population of bigger groups ranging from 60 to 80.

"We came across them many times beside a mountain stream, and there are more than 200 monkeys,” said a local volunteer surnamed Zheng, adding the monkeys ate leaves in the trees before came down to drink water. Other volunteers said the reality reminded them of the episode of “monkey king” in Journey to the West, a classic work of Chinese literature.

  

In addition to western Yunnan, northeastern Myanmar is also a major habitat of Phayre's leaf monkeys, and they mainly lives in the primitive broad-leaved forests below the elevation of 2,700 meters, said Chen Jianwei, doctoral advisor with Beijing Forestry University.

  

Source: Yunnan Daily; translating by Wang Shixue