Golden Monkey

The members of our legitimately amazing group are Kiana Khaki, Victoria Pich, and Yoshi Partida.

The golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is an Old World monkey that is endemic to a small area in the temperate, mountainous forests of central and Southwest China. They inhabit areas of elevation that range from 1,500-3,400 m above sea level. In China they are known as Sichuan golden hair monkey (川金丝猴). It is the most widely distributed species of snub-nosed monkey in China.

They can be found in groups as small as 5-10 or in groups as large as 600. Their social organization is pretty complicated, usually divided into one-male-units and each male has a few females and their offpring occompanying. The male are usually solitary, while the females socialize with one another. Groups stay near each other but interactions between one-male-units usually end in a confrontation. All members look after the young, usually by putting them in the center of the back so they can be watched. They sleep in clusters in the lower stratum of the tree canopy since the upper canopy is cold and windy, and staying warm is important for survival. Males typically sleep by themselves or keep watch for predators or dangers.

The golden snub-nosed monkey eats lichens, young leaves, fruits or seeds, buds, mature leaves, herbs, bark, and flowers. Their diet changes throughout the year with the changing seasons based on the availability of food. They primarily eat lichen from November to April, then a mixture of folivore and lichen eater from May to July, then a frugivore and lichen eater or mostly lichen eater from August to October. They eat the least amount of lichens in the sumer due to greater availability of fruit or seeds.

They have become endangered due to habitat loss since their food source, lichens, mostly come from dead trees, but dead trees are harvested which reduces the quality of their habitat and the availability of food. The big issue is that the golden snub-nose monkey is very selective with their food so any damage to their habitat can seriously harm them.