Nonhuman Primates in China and Their Conservation Challenges, livre ebook

This book systematically integrates fossil records of primates since the Pliocene to illustrate their dispersal and radiation routes in East Asia and reconstruct historical changes in their distribution using Chinese literature records. This book mainly compiles contemporary records of 28 primate species (classified under 3 families and 8 genera) with confirmed distribution within China as of August 2022. Each species entry documents critical parameters including geographical range, population estimates, current habitat status, and key threats impacting their survival. For species with global distributions, the work incorporates official IUCN Red List of Threatened Species assessments. Regarding China-endemic species, dedicated threat evaluations have been conducted following standardized criteria. Synthesizing these findings, this book proposes prioritized conservation measures for key Chinese primates. Furthermore, it develops comprehensive protection strategies informed by the integrated dataset, ultimately aiming to provide a scientific foundation for endangered status evaluations and evidence-based conservation management. 

Preface i

Book Review iii

Chapter one: Dispersal, Migration, and Historical Dynamics of Primates in China

Introduction 1

Fossil data of primates in China . 5

Historical distribution data of primates in China . 5

Dispersion and radiation of the catarrhines in the Pleistocene . 9

Hylobatidae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Colobinae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Cercopithecinae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Dispersion and radiation of the catarrhines in East Asia . 22

Reduction of existing catarrhines in the Holocene . 23

Summary . 26

Chapter two: Evaluation Report of the Survival Status of Primates in China

Introduction 27

Evaluation methodology . 28

Assessment criteria and definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Division principle of threatened species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Data sources for assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

The evaluation results of primates in China . 37

Nycticebus bengalensis (Lacépède, 1800) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Nycticebus pygmaeus (Bonhote, 1907) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Macaca arctoides (Geoffroy, 1831) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Macaca cyclopis (Swinhoe, 1862) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Macaca mulatta (Zimmermann, 1780) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Macaca leonina (Blyth, 1863) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Macaca assamensis (McClelland, 1839) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Macaca leucogenys (Li et al., 2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Macaca munzala (Sinha et al., 2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Macaca thibetana (Milne-Edwards, 1870) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Rhinopithecus bieti (Milne-Edwards, 1897) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Rhinopithecus brelichi (Thomas, 1903) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Rhinopithecus roxellana (Milne-Edwards, 1870) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Rhinopithecus strykeri (Geissmann et al., 2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Semnopithecus schistaceus (Hodgson, 1840) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Trachypithecus francoisi (Pousargues, 1898) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Trachypithecus leucocephalus (Tan, 1957) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Trachypithecus crepusculus (Elliot, 1909) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Trachypithecus melamera (Elliot, 1909) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

Trachypithecus pileatus (Blyth, 1843) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Trachypithecus shortridgei (Wroughton, 1915) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Hoolock hoolock (Harlan, 1834) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Hoolock tianxing (Fan et al., 2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Hylobates lar (Linnaeus, 1771) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Nomascus concolor (Harlan, 1826) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Nomascus hainanus (Thomas, 1892) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Nomascus leucogenys (Ogilby, 1840) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Nomascus nasutus (Kunkel d’Herculais, 1884) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Chapter three: Achievements and Challenges of Primate Conservation in China

Introduction 133

Result of the evaluation report 133

IUCN Red List for Threatened Species Assessment Results . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Results of the Red List assessment of threatened species in China . . . . . . 134

Results of national protection level for wildlife assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Proposed class variation for IUCN Red List threatened species categories . . . . . 134

Proposed class variation for Chinese Red List threatened species categories . . . . . . . 134

Changes in the protection levels of Nationally Key Protected Wildlife in China . . . . . . 135

Conservation strategies 137

Enhancing habitat protection and restoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Enhancing cross-border cooperation with neighboring countries . . . . . . 137

Enhancing primatological research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Monitoring ecotourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Promoting conservation awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Summary . 139

Chapter four: Bridging Conservation Boundaries – A New Conservation Platform Initiated with Primates in China…140

References 147

Index . 166