Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment an adorable monkey infant is rescued by a group of hikers after accidentally trapping its arm between two tree trunks.
The animal spotted in the forests of Longquan County in East China’s Zhejiang Province was identified by the Longquan Forestry Bureau as a Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana), which is also known as a Chinese stump-tailed macaque or Milne-Edwards’ macaque.
Video taken by members of the Longquan Hiking Association show them coming across the stranded monkey while visiting Shimalong Gorge.
The animal, which appears to have trapped its right arm between a split tree trunk, looks at its rescuers with desperate eyes before hikers free it by lifting it to safety.
In the video, the hikers release the monkey which sprints to freedom into the nearby trees.
Hou Linfeng, head of the hiking association, said: “The little monkey trapped its arm between two tree trunks and couldn’t get out.
“It looked frightened and kept pulling and pulling while staring at us with its desperate eyes. It was also crying for help.”
Tibetan macaques are a class II state-protected species in China, now mostly found in south-western regions including Tibet.
While the monkeys were known to live in Zhejiang in the past, they were found in in the province for the first time this century in August 2012, when two males were spotted.
Forestry officials have been monitoring the population and, in 2016, found that Tibetan macaques in Zhejiang number between 200 and 300.
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