The staff at an east China animal park are searching nationwide for a new mate for their male golden snub-nosed monkey.

Sources from Qianjiang Evening News said that Hangzhou Wild Animal World in Zhejiang Province recently announced that their monkey has been "depressed" ever since his mate died from blood poisoning in 2003.

Park staff said they have visited several zoos in neighboring provinces, but could not find a suitable four-year-old female of the same species.

Unique to China, the golden snub-nosed monkey, or Rhinopithecus roxellana, is under top state protection.

All three subspecies are classified as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List, with the main threats described as human-induced habitat loss and degradation.

According to recent surveys, only 10,000 to 15,000 survive in the wild in southwest China, with the largest populations in Sichuan Province. 

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2005)