To address the problem, the research team conducted a diet supplement experiment, where apples, oranges and pine nuts were stuck onto branches and coated with moss to mimic wild fruits. But no monkey dared to approach — a stalemate that was finally broken when a male, later named Dadan (meaning "bold"), became the first to take the food.

A few months later, the monkey group began to regularly accept the supplemental food, which opened the door for researchers to systematically observe their feeding, reproduction, social behavior and even individual personalities.

Yao Hui, deputy director of the scientific research institute, said that the Shennongjia golden snub-nosed monkey typically lives at altitudes above 1,600 meters, where vegetation is limited — about 60 percent of their diet is tree bark and lichen, supplemented by bird eggs, insects and soil for protein and trace elements.

"As a result, during winter when food intake is severely insufficient and nutrition is lacking, their fur turns grayish; around July and August, however, it becomes a beautiful golden color," Yao said.

Yao underscored that human intervention remains minimal -researchers only provide a small amount of supplemental food during extreme winter shortages. The overall approach is to let the monkeys live as naturally as possible while working to restore their natural habitat.

Measures included the construction of 25 ecological corridors, which facilitate the reconnection of fragmented habitat patches and promote gene exchange among different monkey populations. Additionally, more than 20 sq km of degraded habitat has been restored to expand their living area.

For residents living in areas where the monkeys are distributed, the reserve has relocated them and organized skills training to help them transition to new livelihoods. Training programs focus on ecotourism, herbal medicine cultivation and green agriculture, empowering former forest dwellers to step out of the deep mountains and embrace sustainable lives.

For those living in peripheral regions, they receive alternative energy subsidies to replace coal and firewood with electricity, reducing the human impact on the monkeys' habitat. Additionally, a comprehensive electrification transformation project at the Dalongtan base was completed in 2024, with a large number of photovoltaic panels installed to power most daily needs such as cooking and heating. This initiative not only reduced fire risks but also further minimized human disturbance to the monkeys' habitat.

"Most rescue cases at the local rescue station are reported by villagers- a vivid microcosm of the shift from loggers to guardians," Yao said.