“Monkey Dad” Yang Wanji

Yang Wanji is a researcher at the Scientific Research Institute of Shennongjia National Park, primarily concentrating on field studies and research project management of the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana).

After graduating with a master’s degree in 2008, Yang Wanji immersed himself in the primary forest of Shennongjia to study the golden snub-nosed monkeys. Now as an experienced expert in the golden snub-nosed monkey, Yang Wanji has turned himself into a “wild man,” who is dubbed "monkey dad" by his colleagues.

At the end of May 2015, an infant golden snub-nosed monkey was born. Soon thereafter, Yang Wanji’s son also came into the world. Overwhelmed with joy, Yang gave the baby monkey the same infant name "Youyou" as his son’s to send it blessings like family members. Despite being a new father himself, Yang has taken care of four generations of golden snub-nosed monkeys, both baby monkeys and their mothers. He supplements the female ones’ diet with eggs and milk. In the event that monkey mamas lack breast milk and that baby monkeys are abandoned or orphaned, he will feed the infants with a small bottle. Being mobbed or mauled by a horde of adult monkeys is commonplace for Yang. As a result, he has received the rabies vaccine many times along with two times of serum virus testing.

At Shennongjia, field studies require Yang to follow the golden snub-nosed monkeys’ schedule, getting up with sunrise and going to sleep with sunset. Over the years, he has kept observing and recording the target golden snub-nosed monkeys’ behaviors, such as grooming and mating. Finally, an individual identification method of his own has been summed up. The significant differences in body size, weight and fur color among individual golden snub-nosed monkeys of different genders and ages make it easy to identify them step by step based on units, the leader males, adult females, and other offspring. Since 2014, Yang has established and kept updating the archives of each unit and its individuals of the observed golden snub-nosed monkey group every year, providing a strong guarantee for further research.

Trudging up the mountains of Shennongjia and constantly tracking the golden snub-nosed monkeys is hard work, Yang said. It was routine to walk across tufted clumps of bamboo and densely prickly bush and to climb slippery mud slopes and cliffs. These are difficulties that must be overcome. Having chosen to settle down here, he has to focus on his work, take root in this soil, and strive for achievements. For over a decade, Yang’s footprints have covered every inch of Shennongjia. He traveled nearly 100,000 kilometers, took more than 100 GB of images and videos, and completed over 1.2 million Chinese characters of observation logs alongside more than 2,000 log sheets.