Limited Heredity Diversity of the Critically Endangered Guizhou Golden Monkeys

Guizhou golden monkey (Rhinopithecus brelichi) was a unique, endangered and endemic primate species in Guizhou Province. It was an isolated population caused by habitat loss and fragmentation due to the human disturbance in the recently 30 years in China, only distributed in Fanjing Mountain National Natural Reserve, Guizhou Province. To know the background with demonic population structure, we sequenced 867 bp of the mitochondrial DNA D-loop from 312 fresh fecal samples, results showed there 11 haplotypes among these samples, h was 0.517, π was 0.00413. It indicated that this species had the lowest genetic diversity among four golden monkeys in China and need strengthen the conversation concern for this species immediately.

Monkey and the mandate of heaven: rethinking the social construction of nature in ecotourism

Purpose Scientific knowledge is usually regarded as the basis for the management of natural environment and wildlife in ecotourism. However, recently, social construction approaches challenge the domination of natural science. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the social construction paradigm in ecotourism management, through conducting a content analysis of social media comments on an accident caused by a monkey in a Chinese ecotourism area. The results show that people commented on the accident from five aspects. First, the public expressed their compassion and mourning for the deceased. Second, people thought that the death was casual and absurd, yet life is full of uncertainty and people should cherish the present. Third, people commented much on the deceased tourist’s company, which is a famous sugar brand well entrenched in many Chinese people’s childhood memories. Fourth, people constructed the monkey as Monkey King, Golden Monkey (another famous sugar brand in China) and as a criminal. Fifth, people also gave their opinions about possible causes of the accident, namely, it was caused by “the mandate of heaven,” company competition, conspiracies or poor management. This study only seriously considers the comments about the mandate of heaven. This explanation is consistent with the Chinese traditional construction of nature as “heaven,” which is believed to dominate the natural and human worlds. Most people, including the managers, accepted the accident and did not explore further about the reasons for the accident. In this case, such a social construction of nature does not aid effective ecotourism management.