Preliminary results from a field study of wild Guizhou snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus brelichi)

The Guizhou snub-nosed monkey, Rhinopithecus brelichi, is a large-bodied colobine confined to the subtropical semi-deciduous forests of Fanjing Mountain Reserve in Guizhou province, southwest China. Field work beginning in 1979 and including 10 months of intensive study in 1991 has revealed several aspects of the behavior and ecology of this species that are distinct from other colobines, including the closely related species R. roxellana and R. bieti. The Guizhou snub-nosed monkey is arboreal, traveling through the trees by quadrupedal walking, climbing, leaping, semibrachiation and (occasionally) by full brachiation. Terrestrial locomotion is use occasionally. Social organization centers around family groups of 5-10 individuals with a single adult male. Many family groups range and rest together in large, semicohesive bands. These bands may split up or coalesce temporarily to form large aggregations of over 400 animals and perhaps more. All-male groups of 2-5 adult or subadult males are found on the periphery of the bands.