Sweet potato supplements help golden monkeys survive winter

When winter comes, Dalongtan Golden Monkey Research Center staff members in Shennongjia, Central China's Hubei province, start providing extra food for golden monkeys to help them survive the winter. Staff members at the center usually provide 50 kg of sweet potato twice a day till the middle of March.

Since the center, which is 2,200 meters above sea level, started providing extra food in the winter of 2005, all baby monkeys there have survived the winter, a number that's 6 percent higher than those living in the natural environment, according to the center.

To date, there are 13 species of golden monkeys with a total population over 1,300 living at Shennongjia, the center's data showed.