Collaborative Research: Conservation and ecology of the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey at Khau Ca, Ha Giang Province, Vietnam

东京金丝猴是由多尔曼（Dolman，1912年）命名的，但在接下来的几十年里很少有人看到它，导致西方科学家认为它已经灭绝，直到1990年最近的目击事件。虽然没有灭绝，但东京金丝猴（Rhinopithecus avunculus）目前仅限于越南北部的三个小地点，在那里它是地方性的。 本研究的重点是在越南河江省的Khau Ca地区的最可行的种群的东京金丝猴。 保护、保存和扩张（在人口和地理上）是这个项目的主要目标，但也寻求对犀牛属生态多样性的更深入了解。 有人认为，一个环境渐变已经产生了一个等级的形态和行为之间的四个现存的金丝猴物种，与东京金丝猴生活在相对低洼的热带万年青森林，而不是其他三个物种在中国居住越来越高和寒冷的栖息地。 初步数据显示，意想不到的下颌健壮的东京金丝猴伴随着开发的各种各样的相对坚韧的植物性食物。 这些发现表明，一个适应复杂的物种之间的鼻古猿，不能解释的倾斜假说。这项计划的保育策略包括进行动植物调查、评估活动模式和范围，以及详细的种群和物候监测。 将收集关于社会行为、觅食和进食以及运动的额外数据以检验倾斜假设。 这些研究结果将在同行评审和流行杂志上传播，并为额外的资金奠定基础。该项目将协调非政府组织和越南森林保护部之间的保护工作。 这将有助于建设属于一些少数民族的当地村民的林业能力。 将通过与地方领导人的互动和培训地方对应人员来提高公众认识。 越南的首席研究员将获得对博士论文的发展的支持，对生态，行为和保护的东京金丝猴。 这项研究将有助于制定一个可行的战略，为新提出的物种/栖息地保护区的TSN猴在Khau Ca。

The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey was named by Dolman (1912), but very few sightings of it occurred in the following decades leading western scientists to suggest its extinction until recent sightings in 1990. While not extinct, the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus) is presently restricted to as few as three small sites in the north of Vietnam, where it is endemic. This study focuses on the most viable population of Tonkin snub-nosed monkey at Khau Ca area in Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. Protection, conservation, and expansion (both demographically and geographically) are the primary goals of this project, but a deeper understanding of the ecological diversity of the genus Rhinopithecus is also sought. It has been suggested that an environmental cline has produced a gradation of morphology and behavior among the four extant Rhinopithecus species, with the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey living in relatively low lying tropical evergreen forest as opposed to the other three species in China which inhabit increasingly higher and colder habitats. Preliminary data reveal unexpected mandibular robusticity in the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey accompanied by the exploitation of a diverse array of relatively tough plant foods. These findings suggest an adaptive complex among Rhinopithecus species that cannot be explained by the clinal hypothesis. The conservation strategy of this project involves faunal and floral survey, assessment of activity patterns and ranging, and detailed population and phenological monitoring. Additional data on social behavior, foraging and feeding, and locomotion will be collected to test the clinal hypothesis. These findings will be disseminated in peer reviewed and popular journals and will lay the foundation for additional funding.This project will coordinate conservation efforts between NGOs and the Forestry Protection Department of Vietnam. It will help to build the forestry capacity of local villagers belonging to a number of ethnic minorities. Public awareness will be enhanced through interactions with local leaders and through the training of local counterparts. The lead Vietnamese researcher will gain support for the development of a doctoral thesis on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey. This study will aid in developing a viable strategy for the newly proposed Species/Habitat Conservation Area for the TSN monkey at Khau Ca.