Home range and seasonality of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys

Home range studies are essential for understanding an animal's behavioral ecology and for making wildlife conservation efficient. The home range of a group of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti Milne-Edwards, 1897) was estimated using a global positioning system collar from December 2003 to October 2004 in northern Yunnan Province, China. To measure the ranging area of the study group 1291 animal locations were fixed. Based on the 100% minimum convex polygon method, the home range size was approximately 32.8 km(2); based on the grid-cell method it was approximately 17.8 km(2) using a 250-m grid and 23.3 km(2) using a 500-m grid. We assessed seasonal changes in the home range of this monkey population and found a different ranging pattern of from earlier studies. Daily range size was calculated as 4.80 +/- 5.81 ha (mean +/- standard deviation), with a range of 45.66 ha (0.01-45.67 ha).