Guardians of the Gaoligong Mountains

Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

In the mist-shrouded valleys of the Gaoligong Mountains in Yunnan province, a unique dawn chorus echoes each morning — the song of the Skywalker hoolock gibbon, the only ape species to be named by Chinese scientists. With fewer than 200 individuals remaining in the wild in China, the survival of these endangered primates now rests with a dedicated team of forest guardians and a conservation strategy that has evolved significantly over the past two decades.

On a recent winter morning, well before sunrise, Yang Youshan began his ascent into the Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve. The 50-year-old forest ranger was searching for an elderly pair of Skywalker hoolock gibbons he has tracked for 17 years — a bond so deep he has learned to read the forest through their eyes.

"I mainly rely on their food," Yang said, pausing on a steep trail lined with numbered trees. "Depending on the season — spring, summer, autumn, winter — we know what fruits they eat, what tender leaves they prefer." This knowledge, honed through years of patient observation, allows him to predict their movements across a landscape marked by more than 1,800 cataloged food trees.

The gibbons he guards are showing their age. "Their movements have become slow, their fur has turned black," Yang noted. The female, once easily identified by her brownish coat, has darkened over time. DNA analysis of their feces and urine confirms the pair is long past breeding age. An infant Yang first spotted in 2008 has since vanished, likely taken by a raptor.

"If I didn't have feelings for them, I definitely couldn't have done this for 17 years," said the part-time ranger, who also tends a small coffee plot in a nearby village.