Species, Threats, and Stakeholders – Tonkin Snub Nosed Monkey

Species, Threats and Stakeholders Assignment – Tonkin Snub nosed Monkey
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Species, Threats and Stakeholders Assignment – Tonkin Snub nosed Monkey
Behavioral Ecology
The ecological aspect of various species across the world has been under close scrutiny to ensure that the public appreciates and understands the importance of having the species in the environment. There has been an effective move to ensure that all the species are recognized and recorded in the scientific and public records. There exists the most threatened species in the world which ensures that the species can be saved from being extinct. Among the critically threatened species is the Tonkin snub nosed monkey (TSNM), which calls for assessment of how various stakeholders influence the monkey's existence. An understanding of the Tonkin snub nosed monkey's behavioral ecology, as well as its threats, helps in building an extensive understanding of how the stakeholders either support or threaten the monkey's existence.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) indicates that there are only approximately eighty to a hundred mature Tonkin snub nosed monkeys (Baillie & Butcher, 2012). It is known by the scientific name Rhinopithecus avunculus. Normally, an adult Tonkin snub nosed monkey weighs 9.1 kilograms, indicating that it is a small-sized primate. It belongs to the kingdom Animalia, order primates, suborder Haplorhini, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia and family Cercopithecidae.
The TSNM’s natural habitat is in forests that have bamboo and broadleaf trees. The monkey has been naturally sighted in areas that are hilly and mountainous, specifically with an elevation of between two hundred and one thousand two hundred meters. It is seen mainly in the northern parts of Vietnam due to the topography and vegetative features of the area (Nguyen et al., 2023). An interesting feature of the hilltops and mountains in Northern Vietnam is that they have karst limestone, which supports the bamboo and broadleaf trees. The area is characterized by trees’ leaves, flowers, seeds and fruits, which form the monkey’s diet. The choice of its diet is made possible by the monkey’s strong jaws and specialized digestive juices in its stomach, thus enabling it to survive with trees’ vegetation. The primates live in Vietnam’s rainforests since it offers food and shelter as its habitat. The monkeys also have a non-specific social structure where it can be found alone or within a pack of males and females. Mostly, the Tonkin snub nosed monkey travel in packs of females and one male, which defines the monkeys as being polygamous. The monkeys reproduce under their social structure composition where many females monkeys undergo mating from one male. The female monkey is already productively mature at four years while the males are productively mature at seven years. The difference in their maturity ages illustrates the reason one male reproduces with different females. The Tonkin snub nosed monkey reproduces either one or two young ones. Despite the TSNM being critically threatened, it is known that the female monkeys offer the best care to their young ones. T...