Traditionally, the genus Rhinopithecus (Milne-Edwards, 1872, Primates, Colobinae) included four allopatric species, restricted in their distributions to China and Vietnam. In 2010, a fifth species, the black snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) was discovered in the Gaoligong Mountains located on the border between China and Myanmar. Despite the remoteness, complex mountainous terrain, dense fog, and armed conflict that characterizes this region, over this past decade Chinese and Myanmar scientists have begun to collect quantitative data on the ecology, behavior and conservation requirements of R. strykeri. In this article, we review the existing data and present new information on the life history, ecology, and population size of R. strykeri. We discuss these data in the context of past and current conservation challenges faced by R. strykeri, and propose a series of both short-term and long-term management actions to ensure the survival of this Critically Endangered primate species. Specifically, we recommend that the governments and stakeholders in China and Myanmar formulate a transboundary conservation agreement that includes a consensus on bilateral exchange mechanisms, scientific research and monitoring goals, local community development, cooperation to prevent the hunting of endangered species and cross-border forest fires. These actions will contribute to the long-term conservation and survival of this Critically Endangered species.

The Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve has rescued two female black snub nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus strykeri)in Yaojiaping Wildlife Rescue Centre.From January 2014 to October 2016,we made a preliminary study onfeeding habits and food compositionof R. strykeriby provisioning these two captive monkeys on a cafeteria diet with > 500 wild-collected plant species. The captive monkeys consumed567 food items from 164plant species of 75 genera and 42 families. All these consumed food items including young leaves (22.4%), mature leaves (16.6%), fruits/seeds (16.1%), buds (14.1%), flowers (15.7%), twigs (8.1%), barks (3.9%) and others (3.2%). Our study showed that the majority of the food species was supplied by 5 plant families: Rosaceae, Lauraceae, Aceraceae, Araliaceae, and Betulaceae, demonstrating that R. strykeri has selective feeding habits. Frequent non-timber forest product collection and illegal logging of food trees in the habitats have caused a huge disturbance and will bringfeeding pressure to the black snub-nosed monkey, we hereby propose someconservation advises.