Box Turtle

The Monkey Who Went Into The Cold

This story appears in the February 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Tucked high in the Qin Ling Mountains of central China, a nimble primate with a peculiar mug has conquered a pitiless landscape. The golden snub-nosed monkey is one of five related species—remnants of once widespread populations whose ranges were squeezed by climate change after the last ice age. Enduring groups, living in territorial bands that can top 400 animals, are being squeezed again by logging, human settlement, and hunters wanting meat, bones (said to have medicinal properties), and luxurious fur. Many have been pushed into high-altitude isolation, where they leap across branches, traverse icy rivers, and weather long winters at nearly 10,000 feet, shielded by that coveted coat.

About 20,000 of the golden variety remain on Earth. Some 4,000 inhabit the mountainous region where Chinese officials set up the Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve to protect the species. Living both in and out of reserve boundaries, Rhinopithecus roxellana, whose Latin name was allegedly inspired by the snub-nosed concubine of a 1500s sultan, has made great adaptations to survive, subsisting on low-protein lichens and bark when trees are bare. Large social networks help fend off predators, like clouded leopards.

Moms outrank barren females in these snub-nosed societies, and males with multiple mates gain high status. So do males that display "courage and perseverance," says biologist Qi Xiao-Guang of Northwest University in Xian, China. Bands may clash when ranges overlap, and "males show their vigor by fighting and forcing the enemy out." Territorial animals, including these and other primates, often do more posturing than injuring—mainly to protect themselves.

Why the odd face? No one is sure, but Penn State primatologist Nina Jablonski suggests the flat muzzle evolved to combat extreme cold, "which would cause frostbite to bare, exposed, fleshy noses."

Fuel their curiosity with your gift

Asia: The Largest Continent On Earth

Seven Worlds, One Planet is back, and episode two is about the largest and most populous continent on Earth: Asia.

Asia is massive and covers around 30% of the Earth's land area. No other continent has such varied landscapes, wildlife and weather conditions. From the scorching deserts in the Middle East to ice-covered parts of Russia where temperatures can drop below -60˚C, Asia has it all. Find out more about some of Asia's fascinating animals and its incredible landscapes below.

The world's largest bears in Kamchatka

The Kamchatka peninsula in Russia is well-known for two things: its high density of volcanoes, and its abundance of Kamchatka brown bears. Standing tall at around 2.5m (8.2 ft) and weighing up to 700kg (110 st), Kamchatka brown bears are among the largest in the world.

The Kamchatka peninsula is around the size of California and has an estimated population of 10,000 - 14,000 bears. The highest concentrations of bears occur along streams during salmon spawning - this is the time when salmon swim up the river to lay their eggs. At this time, mother bears with cubs can be in danger, as mating males are known to kill cubs to breed with the female. Female bears are unlikely to breed if they have cubs with them.

The tallest mountains on the planet

Most of us have heard of the Himalayas, where Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, is. The Himalayas are the tallest mountain range on Earth and stretch across northeastern India, all the way to Bhutan, a distance of around 2,400km (1,500mi).

The giant mountains were formed millions of years ago and are still growing today. India was once lying over 6000km (3700mi) south of what we now know as Asia. As Pangaea separated, India, which is on the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, moved north and collided with the Eurasia plate. When this happened, the sea which sat in between the two plates disappeared, and its seabed pushed up to form the Himalayas. All of this happened very slowly over a period of around 150 million years.

Today, a lot of the mountains in the sky are higher than the clouds. Over 100 of them are more than 7,000m (23,000ft) higher than sea level. The Himalayas continue to rise more than 1cm a year, which means that in a million years, they could be 10km higher than they are now. It's safe to say, that won't be in our lifetime.

The biggest fish with the widest mouth

Asia is not just home to the largest bears and the tallest mountains. The biggest fish in the world, the whale shark, also lives there. Despite their huge size, whale sharks are relatively gentle creatures that cruise through warmer, tropical seas in search for plankton. They can be found throughout the Indian Ocean, but are known to migrate to shallow waters off Western Australia.

Whale sharks have more than 300 rows of teeth in each jaw, but they don't actually use them to eat. They are filter feeders, which means they extend their huge jaws to scoop up everything in their path. Because of how they feed themselves, their large size and the fact that they're called 'whale sharks', they could be mistaken for a whale. However, they have cartilage instead of bone - making them a true shark.

Whale sharks and humans actually have something in common - kind of. Each whale shark has its own unique pattern of spots, much like a human fingerprint. Their patterns helps them to blend into their surroundings and can be useful to researchers who are counting populations.

Iran's record-breaking desert

Most Brits enjoy the warm weather that summertime brings, but with average summer temperatures of around 16˚C in the UK, it's difficult to imagine temperatures as hot as 60˚C. Well, that's what life is like in Iran's Lut desert. Also called 'Dasht-e Lut', the Lut desert recorded the highest land surface temperature ever in 2005, at a scorching 70.7˚C.

Long periods of strong winds add to the desert's hostility, but also help create an interesting landscape. In the west of the desert, they propel sand at great speeds, creating sharp irregular ridges of compact sand called yardangs. These yardangs cover about a third of the Lut desert and are usually aligned in the direction of the wind. They are so large and impressive that they can be seen from space.

Sir David's quest for the Golden snub-nosed monkey

The golden snub-nosed monkey is native to the mountainous snow forests of Central and South West China, and has been a target for Sir David Attenborough for years. The nature presenter says he has been trying to capture the animal on film for around 50 years, after reading about it in a scientific paper in the 1960s. He says that before Seven Worlds, One Planet, he "had never seen film of it before". Well, Sir David has finally got his wish.

Ancestors of the snub-nosed monkey were once widespread across Asia, until climate and geological activity associated with the last ice age restricted their range. As a result, they have evolved to combat extreme cold, which may explain their nose structure. Scientists think that monkeys with exposed, fleshy noses would be more likely to get frostbite. Nowadays it is estimated that there are around 10,000 of the golden variety left on Earth.

Golden snub-nosed monkeys are very vocal, and can produce 18 types of calls. They also have a remarkable ability to communicate without any visible signs of moving their mouths. Instead, these calls often correspond with their facial expressions. These highly social animals form units of between 20 and 70 during the winter. In summer, up to 600 of them will come together.

Decision 40 COM 8B.7

Commends the State Party for its efforts to improve the conservation of the property and in particular its expeditious actions to expand the property in the Badong County area and implement a range of ecological connectivity measures to improve integrity during the evaluation process;

Brief synthesis

Hubei Shennongjia is located in the Shennongjia Forestry District and Badong County in China's Hubei Province. Shennongjia is on the ecotone from the plains and foothill regions of eastern China to the mountainous region of central China. It is also situated along a zone of climate transition, where the climate shifts from the subtropical zone to warm temperate zone, and where warm and cold air masses from north and south meet and are controlled by the Subtropical Gyre.

The property covers 73,318 ha and consists of two components, the larger Shennongding/Badong component in the west and the smaller Laojunshan component to the east. A buffer zone of 41,536 ha surrounds the property. Hubei Shennongjia includes 11 types of vegetation which are characterized by a diversity of altitudinal gradients. The Shennongjia region is considered to be one of three centres of endemic plant species in China, a reflection of its geographical transitional position which has shaped its biodiversity, ecosystems and biological evolution. Hubei Shennongjia exhibits globally impressive levels of species richness and endemism especially within its flora, 3,767 vascular plant species have been recorded including a remarkable 590 temperate plant genera. In addition, 205 plant species and 2 genera are endemic to the property, and 1,793 species endemic to China. Among the fauna, more than 600 vertebrate species have been recorded including 92 mammal, 399 bird, 55 fish, 53 reptile and 37 amphibian species. 4,365 insect species have been identified. The property includes numerous rare and endangered species such as the Golden or Sichuan Snub-nosed Monkey, Clouded Leopard, Common Leopard, Asian Golden Cat, Dhole, Asian Black Bear, Indian Civet, Musk Deer, Chinese Goral and Chinese Serow, Golden Eagle, Reeve's Pheasant and the world's largest amphibian the Chinese Giant Salamander.

Shennongjia has been a place of significant scientific interest and its mountains have featured prominently in the history of botanical inquiry. The site has a special status for botany and has been the object of celebrated international plant collecting expeditions conducted in the 19th and 20th centuries. From 1884 to 1889 more than 500 new species were recorded from the area. Shennongjia is also the global type location for many species.

Criterion (ix): Hubei Shennongjia protects the largest primary forests in Central China and is one of three centres of endemic plant species in China. The property includes 11 types of vegetation and an intact altitudinal vegetation spectrum across six gradients including evergreen broad-leaved forest, mixed evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest, coniferous forest, and bush/meadow. With 874 species of deciduous woody plants, belonging to 260 genera, the tree species and genus richness of the site is unparalleled for a deciduous broadleaf forest type worldwide and within the Northern Hemisphere's evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests, Hubei Shennongjia contains the most complete altitudinal natural belts in the world. Hubei Shennongjia is situated in the Daba Mountains Evergreen Forests ecoregion and also within a priority ecoregion, the Southwest China Temperate Forest both of which are not yet represented on the World Heritage List. It also protects the Shennongjia regional centre of plant diversity which has been identified as a gap on the World Heritage List. In association with its floral diversity the property protects critical ecosystems for numerous rare and endangered animal species.

Criterion (x): Hubei Shennongjia's unique terrain and climate has been relatively little affected by glaciation and thus creates a haven for numerous rare, endangered and endemic species, as well as many of the world's deciduous woody species. The property exhibits high levels of species richness, especially among vascular plants, and remarkably contains more than 63% of the temperate genera found across all of China, a megabiodiverse country with the world's greatest diversity of temperate plant genera. The property includes 12.9% of the country's vascular plant species. The mountainous terrain also contains critical habitat for a range of flagship animal species. 1,550 Golden or Sichuan Snub nosed Monkeys are recorded in the property. The Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys in Shennongjia are the most endangered of the 3 sub-species in China and are entirely restricted to the property. Other important species include Clouded Leopard, Common Leopard, Asian Golden Cat, Dhole, Asian Black Bear, Indian Civet, Musk Deer, Chinese Goral, Chinese Serow, Golden Eagle, Reeve's Pheasant and the world's largest amphibian the Chinese Giant Salamander. The property has extremely rich biodiversity, contains a large number of type species, and hosts numerous rare species which have been introduced into horticulture worldwide. Internationally, Shennongjia holds a special place for the study of plant systematics and horticultural science.

Integrity

The property covers 73,318 ha and is coincident with the majority of the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve in Shennongjia Forestry District. The larger Shennongding/Badong component in the west is 62,851 ha and includes the northern section of the Yanduhe Provincial Nature Reserve in adjoining Badong County. The Laojunshan component at 10,467 ha lies in the east. A buffer zone of 41,536 ha surrounds the property. The property is large enough to encompass all the essential components that form the unique biodiversity, biological and ecological values of the Shennongjia in Hubei. The boundaries are designated and clearly demarcated on the ground.

The property remains in good condition and threats are generally not of significant concern. However, the division of the site by National Highway 209 and the associated 10 km wide corridor is a cause for concern as it impedes wildlife movements and ecological connectivity. The implementation of an effective conservation connectivity strategy involving wildlife corridors, stepping stones or arrays of small patches of habitat, wildlife road crossings and the removal of fences is therefore essential to facilitate ecological connectivity for mobile wildlife, especially those species which normally require sizable habitat ranges.

Protection and management requirements

All of the property is owned by the state and has national or provincial protection status. Hubei Shennongjia is subject to a range of national, provincial and local laws and regulations which ensure long term strict protection. A multi-level management system has been established to manage the property. The property is subject to a number of plans and has a specific Hubei Shennongjia Management Plan tailored to World Heritage requirements and aimed at safeguarding the site's Outstanding Universal Value. The management plan needs to be updated to cover management of the Yanduhe Provincial Nature Reserve in Badong County. The management plan should in addition elaborate on measures to integrate different areas of management expertise in a coordinated way across the different protected areas and other national and international designations. The management plan should be a forward-thinking tool that supports adaptive management. Zoning systems should be reviewed to account for the specific habitat and spatial needs of key species.

The property enjoys widespread support among all levels of Government, local people and other stakeholders. The property requires long-term, active management of the buffer zone to ensure that any developments are of an appropriate scale and design according to the values of the property. Furthermore that surrounding land uses are sympathetic to the values of the property and generate sustainable benefits to local communities. Increased attention and capacity is needed to manage issues within the buffer zone.

A concern stems from the potential of tourism use at the property to increase significantly. Significant improvements to transport infrastructure, most notably the opening of the nearby Shennongjia Airport in 2014, has the potential to dramatically increase visitation and consequent impact. Tourism planning, management and monitoring need to anticipate increasing demand and mitigate negative impacts.

Other threats relate to buffer zone developments and activities. Developments and encroaching landuse such as for tea cultivation need ongoing monitoring. Attention should be given to integrated conservation and community development initiatives in the buffer zones to foster stronger community stewardship of the World Heritage property.

---