Macaque cub rescued in E China's 'monkey village'

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The electrician Xie Xuliang was on his way home from work when he found an infant monkey stuck between rocks in a river.

He later brought the monkey cub to the local police station in Qingyuan County, east China's Zhejiang Province. The monkey was so small that he could put it in a takeaway box.

Authorities sent it to a macaque park in the county, where professional breeders can take care of the infant monkey. The breeders there identified the cub as a macaque, which is under second-class state protection in China.

The baby macaque is recovering under the care of the park's staff.

Aerial view of Qingyuan County /VCG Photo

Every winter in Xianliang Town, macaques and other monkeys go downhill to seek food. The breeders said the macaque cub may have been left behind during this journey. It will be released back into the forest once it recovers.

The macaques are not here by accident. Xianliang Town has a forest coverage of more than 86 percent. Numerous valuable plants and animals that are under state protection have homes in this dense forest around the town. A large macaque population has been indigenous to this area for hundreds of years, and has actually increased throughout the years.

The vast Baizu Mountain around Qingyuan County. / VCG Photo

This unpolluted town is a paradise for the macaques. Residents can see them hanging around all year long. As wild chestnuts ripen in autumn and winter, the macaques come down from the hills in groups to forage.

The macaques get along very well with their neighbors in the town. They sometimes play with the villagers' dogs. When they are hurt by wild boars, the injured monkeys are cared for by the the villagers.

Other animals like the slow loris also like to wander around the town. / VCG Photo

The local government hosted a meeting in 2016 to discuss building a macaque park, which would provide a resting spot for macaques during their explorations downhill. During the meeting, macaques were even seen “observing” outside of the windows.