A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures

These monkeys look especially unusual because of their upturned nose and plump, rosy lips. Their nose doesn’t have a nasal bone, and their big lips cover large gums and teeth, which they display when feeling threatened or scared.

The males weigh in at a rather hefty average of 31 pounds (14 kg) and can reach lengths of 3 to 5 feet (100--155 cm), including their tail. Females are smaller, measuring just over half the size of males.

These monkeys use a range of calls and alarms to communicate with each other, including lighthearted cheeps to show playfulness and barking to indicate rage, as well as a number of calls to warn of oncoming danger.

The black snub-nosed monkey can be found in southwestern China, in a region called Yunnan. In fact, they’re sometimes called the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. They live in forests around 2.5 miles (4,000 m) above sea level, where it’s snowy almost every day of the year!

Black snub-nosed monkeys rely on fungus, algae, bamboo, and the lichen on trees to give them energy throughout the day. In springtime, they also eat berries, insects, grass, and flowers.

This is yet another unique primate that’s struggling to survive because of overwhelming deforestation, poaching, and the impact of climate change on its habitat. Since the early 1980s, their numbers have fallen by 31 percent. On top of this, black snub-nosed monkeys are frequently poisoned or caught in snares put down for other animals. People are trying to help them survive by running breeding programs in China, funding protected areas where they can live safely, and promoting awareness about their plight.

Fun Facts

Black snub-nosed monkeys sleep a lot—on average, they get 11 hours of sleep a night! (And sometimes even more in the colder months.)
They are the only monkeys to live in temperatures below 32°F (0°C) for a long period of time.
These monkeys are sexually dimorphic—the males have longer fur than the females, for instance.
When they go to sleep, they always arrange themselves so that mothers and babies are in the middle, other females are next, and males are on the outside to guard against predators.