9th Golden Monkey of the Year Is Born in Shennongjia

By Wang Xin, Guo Yuming, Tian Meng & Wang Pin

Every spring and summer marks the time for golden snub-nosed monkey families in Shenongjia to expand their population, and represents the happiest time for the keepers of the Reserve as well,for the successive birth of baby monkeys bring them great joy and happiness. As is known to all, golden monkeys, a national treasure of China, are often referred to as “the elf of the roof of Central China.” The birth of each baby means the addition of a national treasure to Shennongjia.

On July 29, a happy event occurred at the Dalongtan Golden Monkey Field Research Base of the Shennongjia National Park Research Institute. A female monkey named Xiaobei gave birth to a male baby, who was the ninth baby monkey born this year. The keepers named the new-born baby “Shanbei.” Up to now, the number of baby monkeys born this year has tied last year’s record of nine babies.

After Shanbei was born,Xiaobei held it in her arms all the time, tending to it carefully while other little golden monkeys kept visiting the little creature. The new-born Shanbei, with its dark snubbed nose and small bright eyes, was quite curious about everything it saw. Though the photographer was far away from them, Xiaobei still noticed his presence and then ran into the deep forest alertly, with one hand holding Shanbei, who hung onto its mother firmly. According to a keeper, Xiaobei is the head female monkey of the Mi Hu monkey family.

To ensure Xiaobei’s quick recovery from her delivery of the baby and that she had sufficient milk to feed the infant, the Base has assigned staff to observe the mother and the baby 24 hours a day to supervise and protect them. At the same time, they also provide various nutritious foods for the mother to make sure that both the mother and the baby son are safe and sound.

Through the zoom lens, it can be seen that the other eight baby monkeys have become robust and they are chasing and playing with each other. As their arms and legs are not strong enough yet, they cannot climb the tall trees but just toddle on the low branches.

Shanbei, the new-born baby monkey (Photo by Guo Yuming) 剛出生的小金絲猴“扇貝”（郭裕銘 攝）

每年春夏，是神農架金絲猴群添丁進口的日子，也是保護地管理員們最開心的時段，一只一只猴寶寶的降生，會給他們帶來莫大的驚喜，因為金絲猴是中國的國寶，被譽為“華中屋脊精靈”，每一只小精靈的降生都意味著神農架又添了一件國寶。

7月29日，在神農架國家公園科學研究院大龍潭金絲猴野外研究基地，又添一喜，母猴“小貝”誕下了一只雄性猴寶寶，這也是今年基地誕生的第9只金絲猴寶寶，管理員給這個機靈呆萌的小家伙取名“扇貝”。至此，今年新生的猴寶寶數已經平了去年9只的紀錄。

由于剛出生不久，“小貝”一直把“扇貝”抱在懷中，認真地呵護著，其他金絲猴寶寶也過來看望新的小伙伴。剛出生的“扇貝”，深黑的鼻子仰天翹著，明亮的小眼，看到什么都充滿好奇。雖然攝影師離得很遠，“小貝”還是機敏地覺察到，一只手把“扇貝”摟在懷里，鉆到林間深處，“扇貝”則用雙手緊緊抓住母親。管理員介紹，“小貝”是金絲猴家庭“米糊”里的母猴。

為確保“小貝”產后體質盡快恢復，能分泌充足的乳汁哺育幼崽，基地派專人對母猴和新生嬰猴進行全天候觀察，監測保護，同時，為母猴提供多樣化和有營養的食物，確保母子平安健康。

Baby monkeys playing together (Photo by Li Kaiyu) 今年出生的猴寶寶嬉戲在一起（李開宇 攝）

According to Yao Hui, vice dean of the Institute, the breeding of golden monkeys is seasonal.Usually, they mate between August and October. After about 200 days of pregnancy, the babies will be born in spring and summer of the next year. After a female monkey conceives a baby, she will have an entire winter to gestate,so that when the baby is born it will be warm spring weather with enough food and sufficient sunshine, which is favorable to the baby’s growth. Female monkeys usually give birth once every two years, with just one birth each time. The baby golden monkey’s breastfeeding period often lasts more than one year.

The golden monkey community at Dalongtan is the smallest one of all the monkey communities in Shenongjia, with over 90 monkeys that are divided into 7 families and 1 AMU (All the Male Unit). In April of 2019, the third census on the golden monkey population in Shennongjia was launched, revealing that after generations of protection of the monkeys on the part of people in Shennongjia and the common efforts of various sides, the golden monkey communities in Shennongjia have risen from 8 in the year 2005 to 10, with the total number of monkeys rising from over 1280 to over 1470, and their habitat area rising from 210 square kilometers to 354 square kilometers.

A new-born baby monkey by the side of its mother (Photo by Li Kaiyu)新生猴在母親身邊練肢體（李開宇 攝）

Mother monkeys holding their babies, guarded by a male monkey behind them (Photo by Li Kaiyu)猴媽媽抱著各自的孩子一起玩耍，一只雄猴在旁邊保護（李開宇 攝）

通過變焦鏡頭，可以看到，那8只新生的猴寶寶已經逐漸強壯起來，它們在一起嬉鬧，追逐。由于四肢還不夠健壯，它們不會爬高大的樹，只在一些低矮的樹枝上蹣跚學步。

神農架國家公園科學研究院副院長姚輝介紹，金絲猴的繁殖是季節性的。通常，金絲猴一般在秋季的8至10月交配，經過約200天孕期，于來年春夏期間生產。這樣，母猴受孕后通過整個冬天的孕育，小猴出世正值春暖花開，食物充足，陽光充沛，非常利于幼猴生長。母猴通常兩年產仔一次，一次一胎，小金絲猴的哺乳期一般長達一年多。

大龍潭金絲猴群體是神農架金絲猴群體中最小的一個種群，數量有90多只，分7個家庭和1個全雄單元。2019年4月，神農架啟動了第三次金絲猴種群調查，經過神農架幾代人的守護和多方的共同努力，目前，神農架金絲猴種群數量已從2005年的8個增至10個，數量從1280余只增加到1470余只，棲息地面積從210平方公里增至354平方公里。