Kunming, October 25 (Xinhuanet) -- A few days ago, a survey data showed that there are about 600 western black-crowned gibbons in the Wuliangshan area of Yunnan Province.
Jiang Xuelong, head of the expert review team and researcher of the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, could not hide his excitement: "This is a result of many efforts in recent years. ”
In November 2020, the Jingdong Management and Conservation Bureau of Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve in Wuliangshan, Yunnan Province, together with Sun Yat-sen University and other units, launched a population survey of the western black-crowned gibbon in the Wuliangshan area. Recently, the survey data was confirmed and released by the expert review meeting.
"The population of the black-crowned gibbon in Shanxi has increased by more than ten colonies compared to 2010, which is quite not easy." Jiang Xuelong introduced that the population dynamic monitoring for many years shows that the western black-crowned gibbon can breed a litter on average every four years, and the population growth is relatively slow. Combined with the results of the three surveys, the population of this rare species showed a steady upward trend.
As early as the early 1990s, Jiang Xuelong was associated with the Western Black-crowned Gibbon. At that time, the scientific community only knew that there were western black-crowned gibbons in The Infinite Mountain, but knew nothing about its distribution area and population. At the age of 26, he set off from Kunming and finally arrived at Wuliang Mountain after many trips, and met the Western Black-crowned Gibbon, who had been married all his life.
"What impressed me the most was its chirping." Jiang Xuelong said that every day around sunrise, they will start the day in a burst of chirping.
During the field investigation, Jiang Xuelong had to arrive at the predetermined location half an hour before sunrise to determine the approximate location of the gibbon by calling. At first, due to a lack of understanding of the areas where local gibbon populations operate, it was common for people to go to ape space.
Since then, Jiang Xuelong has visited Wuliang Mountain several times a year in order to completely collect information on the behavior and activities of the gibbon group. Every time he set off, he always had to stuff his suitcase, in addition to field observation equipment, pots and pans and a moderate amount of vegetable rice oil and salt.
"My colleagues say I'm on a business trip like moving." Jiang Xuelong said that at that time, when a field survey was carried out, it was often more than two months, and food and accommodation were in the mountains, far away from the villages.
Xie Youneng of the Jingdong Management and Conservation Bureau of the Wuliang Mountain National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Wuliang Mountain recalled that one year, he followed him up the mountain to chase the ape, and when it rained heavily, the water in the tent had to be scooped out with a large mouth tank. "Entering the mountains is carried on the shoulders, and it is difficult to transport a lot of food in a short period of time, so we waited for more than 20 days to eat vegetables." He said.
In the deep mountains and dense forests, sometimes gibbons did not look for them, but encountered beasts of prey. Jiang Xuelong once had an unexpected encounter with the clouded leopard and the black bear, but because of his composure and calmness, they all eventually turned the danger into ruin.
In the early years, due to the influence of poaching and other influences, gibbons were very afraid of people, and when they saw people, they fled at the "speed of the wind", which the locals figuratively called "wind monkeys". This changed in 2006, when monitors were able to get close to them even when they were not feeding.
"This shows that gibbons have increased trust in humans." Jiang Xuelong said.
Today, Jiang Xuelong, who is nearly 60 years old, still insists on the front line of work, field guidance and training gibbon population and distribution survey, and accidentally broke his left foot during field work at the beginning of this year. But this did not in any way affect his regular "meetings" with gibbons.
What makes him happy is that gibbon research and conservation work is not only followed by people, but also has considerable scientific research support. At present, the small dazhai monitoring station has trained 6 doctoral students and become the backbone of the continuation of the "ape" point.
Source: Xinhua Net