In the densely forested valleys along the Sino Vietnamese border, the long and melodious sounds of apes could be heard from time to time. The staff of Guangxi Bangliang Gibbon National Nature Reserve (hereinafter referred to as "Bangliang Reserve") once again came to the 777 boundary marker on the China Vietnam border, shook hands and hugged the staff of Chongqing County Gibbon Nature Reserve in Gaoping Province, Vietnam, and exchanged work experience. Over the years, in order to protect the East Black Crown Gibbons living in this forest, Sino Vietnamese animal protection workers have held regular informal meetings like this. Thank you to the Vietnamese side for their strong support in protecting cooperation. We plan to hold a formal meeting soon and welcome relevant Vietnamese personnel to attend. ”Yang Jiang, director of the Bangliang Nature Reserve Management Center, said. Thank you for the kind invitation from the Chinese side. The number of black crowned gibbons in the East is constantly increasing, and we hope to discuss the issue of expanding the protected forest area during the next formal meeting between the two sides. ”Huang Wenyang, the head of the forest inspection station in Chongqing County, Gaoping Province, Vietnam, said. The East Black Crown Gibbon is a first-class protected wild animal in China and is listed as a globally critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In the 1950s, due to poaching and habitat loss, this species was considered extinct. It was not until 2002 and 2006 that investigators rediscovered the East Black Crown Gibbon at the China Vietnam border. The Bangliang Nature Reserve and the adjacent Chongqing County Gibbon Nature Reserve in Vietnam's Gaoping Province are its only known habitats. In 2011, China and Vietnam signed a memorandum of cooperation to conduct joint investigations, conservation exchange meetings, and joint patrol law enforcement to create a livable habitat for the East Black Crown Gibbon. After strict protection, the living environment of the East Black Crown Gibbon has become better and better. The population observed in China has expanded from 3 groups of 19 at the beginning of discovery to 5 groups of 39 now. The population in Vietnam has also achieved stable growth year after year, which is the result of the joint efforts of both sides. ”Speaking of the population changes of the East Black Crown Gibbon, Yang Jiang is very pleased. In order to protect these lovely and precious creatures, the Bangliang Nature Reserve continues to promote collaborative mechanisms such as "forest chief+prosecutor" and "forest chief+police station chief+forest rangers". It has also partnered with local police stations to establish the world's first "East Black Crown Gibbon Guard" and set up the "East Black Crown Gibbon Ecological Maple Police Station", achieving full coverage of patrols and ensuring that mountains are managed, forests are protected, and apes are guarded. In 2024, a cross-border joint patrol team will be officially established in the protected areas of China and Vietnam, and three joint patrols will be carried out within the year. In February 2025, the two sides jointly signed the "China Vietnam East Black Crown Gibbon Joint Protection Action Plan" and the "China Vietnam East Black Crown Gibbon Joint Patrol Team Work Plan", which for the first time clarified the composition of the patrol personnel of both sides and systematically constructed a joint protection framework of "joint formation joint patrol joint law enforcement", taking China Vietnam East Black Crown Gibbon protection cooperation to a new level. In order to monitor and conduct in-depth research on the population dynamics and behavior of the East Black Crown Gibbon, the Bangliang Nature Reserve has partnered with universities such as Sun Yat sen University and Guangxi Normal University to conduct regular scientific research and protection monitoring of the East Black Crown Gibbon using passive acoustic monitoring technology. Three newly born juvenile apes have been discovered in the Bangliang Nature Reserve. They are too precious and cute, it's worth it no matter how hard we work! "Said Meng Keli, a forest ranger at the Daxing Management Station of the Bangliang Nature Reserve Management Center. In front of boundary marker 777, the responsible persons of the protected areas of China and Vietnam exchanged greetings and planned for the future - "We appreciate and appreciate the work of Vietnam, and our cooperation is sincere and in-depth. In the future, we will work together to continue to protect the habitat of gibbons. ”With the joint efforts of both sides, the protected areas have achieved zero fires, zero poaching, and zero deforestation. Thank you for the efforts made by the Chinese side. ”(New Society)