Chinanews.com, Baise, July 22nd. Title: Fewer than giant pandas. China and Vietnam jointly rescue the East Black Crested Gibbon

  China News Service reporter Jiang Xuelin

  "This rolling hills is the last ark for the Eastern Black Crested Gibbon to survive on this planet." Yang Jiang, director of the Guangxi Bangliang Gibbon National Nature Reserve Management Center, said in an interview with reporters recently that the species currently exists. The number is less than that of China's national treasure giant pandas.

  Following Yang Jiang into the East Black Crested Gibbon Nature Reserve in Bangliang Village, Renzhuang Township, Jingxi City, Baise City, Guangxi Province, I saw mountains, dense forests, and cicadas singing. The reserve is located on the border between China and Vietnam, directly bordering the Chongqing Gibbon Reserve in Vietnam.

Eastern Black Crested Gibbon living in Bangliang Eastern Black Crested Gibbon Nature Reserve. Photo by Wei Shaoqian

  Yang Jiang, who has been working in the reserve for nearly ten years, knows everything about the habits of gibbons. Yang Jiang told reporters that the most attractive thing about the East Black Crested Gibbon is their crying, so they are dubbed the "singer" of the animal kingdom by experts. Their "singing" is sometimes melodious and ups and downs, sometimes loud and loud. Different voices have different meanings. Some are conversations between family members, calling friends and friends, and some are sworn to territory, warning neighbors "Don't invade my territory." Gibbon couples who have formed a family usually "husband singing" first and then "women harmony", and their calls can be heard several kilometers away.

  Yang Jiang said that the East Black Crested Gibbon is not only a "treble singer", but also an "acrobat". The gibbon swings in the canopy of the tree with its arms crossed and can move freely. The East Black Crested Gibbon will stay on the ground for a lifetime, living on the tree.

Bangliang East Black Crested Gibbon Nature Reserve. Photo by Edison Chen

  However, this spirit on earth was once considered extinct in China by zoologists in the 1950s. In May 2006, Zhou Fang, a professor of biology at Guangxi University, conducted a bird survey on the Sino-Vietnamese border and found traces of the eastern black-crowned gibbon, which brought this species back to the Chinese field of vision.

  “In 2002, Vietnam rediscovered this species in Chongqing County, Cao Binh Province. In 2006, Vietnam established the Chongqing East Black Crested Gibbon Reserve, and China also established a provincial-level reserve in 2009. In 2013, Bangliang Conservation The district has been promoted to a national nature reserve." Yang Jiang said.

  The habitat of the Eastern Black Crested Gibbon straddles China and Vietnam. According to Yang Jiang, in order to protect this endangered species, in 2011, the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cao Binh Province, Vietnam signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Cross-border Protection of Black Crested Gibbon and Its Habitats between China and Vietnam. 》, the two provinces and autonomous regions hold a joint meeting every two years to discuss protection matters; the protected areas of the two countries hold two "boundary marker meetings" each year to inform each other of protection information, formulate protection measures, and achieve joint protection; forest rangers from the two countries are also formed The joint patrol team, through regular patrols, stepped up efforts to crack down on illegal activities.

  At the border monument No. 778 on the Sino-Vietnamese border, Yang Jiang pointed to the Vietnamese village below the mountain and said: “Before the outbreak, the forest rangers in our reserve often went to the mountain to communicate, and their forest rangers were often invited by us to communicate with each other in the country. The feelings of the members are very deep."

  At the beginning of the rediscovery, there were only 3 groups of 21 Eastern Black Crested Gibbon in China. More than a decade of protection in China and Vietnam has increased the number of this species. In order to clarify the latest population status of the East Black Crested Gibbon, in November 2018, China and Vietnam conducted a simultaneous population survey. After more than ten days of hard field investigation, investigators from China and Vietnam released new survey data-the last population of Eastern Black Crested Gibbon in the world was 122-134. There are about 30 animals in 5 groups in China.

  "We ask all staff to come to the protected area to work, the first thing is to go to the mountain to understand the situation, by the way, say hello to the gibbons." Yang Jiang said, as the country attaches great importance to ecological protection and investment, Dong The protection of the black-crowned gibbon has been gradually strengthened. Despite the hard work in the reserve, Lin Yongjian, a young "post-90s" young man, chose to work in the reserve. "It's fun to deal with gibbons. I spend half a month in the mountains." Lin Yongjian said.

  The green hill is not old, the sound of the ape is still the same. The guardianship of the governments and peoples of China and Vietnam has made the East Black Crested Gibbon resurrected from a desperate situation. The cooperation between China and Vietnam continues. On January 10 this year, the Sino-Vietnamese Cross-Border Joint Protection of the East Black Crested Gibbon Exchange Conference was held at Boundary Monument 784. Held on the side. Conservation workers from China and Vietnam sat together and talked about the future of gibbon conservation. (Finish)