The Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed the existence of the world’s fifth subspecies of snub-nosed monkey “Nujiang snub-nosed monkey” in China by taking DNA analysis on their excrements collected near China’s Nu River, Yunnan province in March, 2012.

Besides the excrements, forest guards in the Gaoligong Mountains nature preserve also took pictures of a group of 60 to 80 of the furry animals.

The monkeys, which are completely black except for their white face, chest and perineum, weigh around 20 to 30 kilograms and are usually around 1.2 meters in height. It is estimated that the newly discovered population consists of 50 to 100 members.

The species was first discovered by the Fauna & Flora International (FFI) in Myanmar in early 2010 and was given the Latin name Rhinopithecus strykeri on October 27, 2010. It is the world's fifth subspecies of the snub-nosed monkey.

China is now home to four subspecies of snub-nosed monkey “Sichuan golden hair monkey, Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, Guizhou snub-nosed monkey, and Nujiang snub-nosed monkey”, with the exception of the tonkin snub-nosed monkey, which is endemic to Vietnam.