Habitat evaluation and conservation framework of the newly discovered and critically endangered black snub-nosed monkey

•An estimated 3670 km2 of habitat for Rhinopithecus strykeri located in Sino-Myanmar border, including core habitat of 1420 km2.•Over the past 15 years, most of habitat loss occurred in Myanmar.•Most habitats are located in Myanmar and only about one fifth of the total habitat is located in protected areas in China.•The key to protect R. strykeri is to establish national parks, implement trans-boundary conservation management, and preserve wildlife corridors.

The black snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) is an IUCN-Critically Endangered primate, recently discovered on the northern Sino-Myanmar border. In order to identify the most urgent gaps in the conservation of the black snub-nosed monkey, a hierarchical process was employed to predict the distribution and alterations in its habitat over the past 15 years. Our study showed that R. strykeri appeared to inhabit a range from E98°20′-98°50′, N25°40′-26°50′, including high quality habitat at 1420 km2, medium quality habitat at 750 km2, and low quality habitats at 1410 km2. Only 21.1% of the total habitat for R. strykeri is within protected areas in China. Approximately 2.6% of the entire habitat has been lost in the past 15 years, 96% of which has been in Myanmar. To save this species from extinction, it is urgent to establish trans-boundary conservation and management networks to address the loss of habitat, and to locate and preserve key wildlife corridors to link fragmented habitats between Myanmar and China.