Engineering graduate's unlikely career path leads to primate protection

As dawn breaks at around 5:30 in Shennongjia, Hubei province, Li Shuhang, dressed in a blue outdoor jacket and carrying a large backpack, nimbly scampers into the forest. He has to locate his monkey troop before it wakes up; otherwise, it becomes much more difficult to find the primates once they start moving.

These particular primates, Shennongjia golden snub-nosed monkeys, are the rarest subspecies of a first-class nationally protected species. A total of 105 individuals — selected as the focal study group for long-term behavioral and ecological monitoring in 2005, when their numbers were only around 40 — are the subjects of the 29-year-old caretaker's work.

Li's conservation journey began with an unexpected opportunity, leading to a long-term commitment.

Three years ago, after graduating with a degree in environmental engineering, Li applied for a job at the Shennongjia nature reserve and was assigned to work as a caretaker at the Dalongtan Golden Snub-nosed Monkey Research Base.

As a native of Xiangyang in Hubei, Li had never seen such high mountains, and at first he could neither navigate the steep terrain nor keep pace with the agile monkeys that darted up the slopes. In those early days, Li's sense of frustration overwhelmed the joy of working alongside the "most beautiful primate tribe".

However, the barrier between him and the monkeys was broken during an ordinary observation three months into his posting. That day, as he was recording their behavior with his camera, a monkey climbed onto his back and began to groom his hair — an action that, in the monkey world, signifies closeness and trust.

"The feeling at that moment was truly magical — my hair was a complete mess, but my heart felt warm," Li said. "It was also precisely in that moment that I gained a strong sense of professional identity, even though I'm not an animal science major."

Little by little, he discovered that although the monkeys only foraged in the morning and afternoon, they were true "foodies" — their diet included lichen, leaves, fruits and pinecones. So when Li found pinecones, he would collect them and bring them to the monkeys every now and then. In this way, he wouldn't overly influence their natural foraging and eating habits.

For golden snub-nosed monkeys, each family unit is led by an adult male who lives with his wives and offspring. Li found that they are a highly family-oriented species. When a baby is first born, its mother holds it protectively in her arms at all times; before the infant reaches six months, no one — not even the caretakers who spend every day with them — is allowed to touch their babies. At the same time, other female monkeys in the family also help to look after the young.

"Infant mortality does occur. Apart from illness, most deaths are caused by fights between monkey groups," Li said. "When adult males leap and fight among the branches, they may accidentally knock a baby out of its mother's arms, and because the infants are so small and fragile, they usually die from the fall.

"Sadly, the mother monkey would hold the dead baby tightly in her arms until the body completely decomposed and could no longer be held about three months later," Li said, expressing a sense of helplessness every time he witnessed this.

To better safeguard the survival and growth of newborn monkeys, Li and his colleagues have established an exclusive growth record for each one, tracking its development from birth.

They have increased the frequency of monitoring to obtain real-time health updates, provide targeted nutritional supplementation, and optimize dietary structures according to each growth stage.

"This year, the base has welcomed the safe birth of 10 golden snub-nosed monkey infants, and it is estimated that another three to four will be born," he said.

limenghan@chinadaily.com.cn