© Hai Dong Thanh

The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus (Presbytiscus) avunculus) is a slender-bodied, sexually dimorphic, arboreal, critically endangered primate, endemic to northern Vietnam. It belongs to the Colobinae subfamily and remains relatively unstudied in comparison with the other members of the “snub-nosed” group. The species is poorly understood throughout of most its range. It appears that R.(P.) avunculus lives in several locations in the forest on steep limestone mountains in northern Vietnam. With small and fragmented populations, they are under constant pressure from local people living in and around the reserve and from the hydropower development project on the Gam River, so this competition with humans is endangering the long term viability of these populations.

The primary goal is to elucidate information on the species’ social organization and behaviour, feeding ecology, and habitat and range use. The information gathered will result in conservation and management recommendations for the species and its habitats and further add to the body of knowledge on the genus Rhinopithecus as a whole, and on R.(P.) avunculus specifically. Hiring local people as field assistants within this project will allow for 1) the capacity development of members of the stakeholder communities; 2) Conservation awareness amongst the other members of the stakeholder communities.

The project team includes a group of 9 people, a primatologist from Malaysia, 5 local students and 3 local people. Local people will be participating in both a classroom training programme at the beginning of the study and while “on the job”. This training progamme will provide the local people with basic knowledge and skills in field conservation techniques and in field primatology. Systematic observations will be conducted over a year on wild population of R. (P.) avunculus at Na Hang Nature Reserve, Tuyen Quang Province, northern Vietnam. Laboratory analysis will investigate the nutritional correlates of food choices.