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A GORGEOUS flash of gold against a black and white backdrop, you鈥檇 think this golden snub-nosed monkey would be hard to miss. Unfortunately, it is rare to spot Rhinopithecus roxellana in its native China, where it is .
鈥淚 was lucky to find this golden monkey,鈥� says photographer , who was trekking the Qinling Mountains of China鈥檚 Shaanxi province searching for pandas when he came across it. 鈥淏y the time I had taken a few pictures, it was gone.鈥�
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They may be shy around humans, but golden snub-nosed monkeys are social animals, and live in groups of up to 500 individuals. They are most likely to be glimpsed in the trees, like this one, where they swing from the branches.
鈥淚 was on steep bamboo hills, and it was quite cold,鈥� recalls Klum. 鈥淚t was the only colourful thing, really.鈥� The animals鈥� beautiful fur makes them prime targets for poachers, but their biggest threat is habitat loss, he says. Commercial logging, even of dead trees, can rob the monkeys of their home and food source.
When Klum first exhibited this photograph in China, he recalls audience members being moved to tears. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a sacred animal in China,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t has a very human-like face and looks like a god.鈥� Despite this, the monkey probably has , Roxellana, to thank for its Latin name.
The photograph appears in the book , by Klum and Johan 搁辞肠办蝉迟谤枚尘, which details the consequences of human actions on biodiversity. 鈥淗umanity has become a geological force changing the planet at an unprecedented scale,鈥� says , a resource management scientist at Stockholm University in Sweden. 鈥淭he book combines science and photography to reach the rational and emotional, the brain and the heart.鈥�
