Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey
Rhinopithecus avunculus (Dollman, 1912)
CR B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v); C1+2a(i)

The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is one of four unusual, large-bodied Asian monkeys of the genus Rhinopithecus that possess a characteristic turned-up nose. The three other species are endemic to China and the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey to northern Vietnam. This species was discovered in 1910, collected on perhaps no more than two occasions over the course of the next 50 to 60 years, and subsequently thought to be possibly extinct by a number of primatologists until its rediscovery in 1989. It has apparently never been widespread or numerous, and today is believed to number less than 200 animals occurring in forests overlying karst formations in a small area adjoining Vietnam’s Bac Thai and Tuyen Quang provinces. The distribution is restricted between longitude 104o54’-106o03’E and latitude 21o43’-22o28’N. Based on surveys conducted a decade ago, the government of Vietnam created the Na Hang Nature Reserve specifically to protect this species. Recently, reports of this species have been received from the mountains of the Cham Chu area to the southwest of Na Hang. It is still hunted throughout its range.