In the 1990s, CERS started support and funding for scientific research on the Pied Snub-nosed Monkey, also known as the Yunnan Golden Monkey. This rare species lives only in the high mountains that rise between the upper Mekong River and the upper Yangtze in northwestern Yunnan and southeastern Tibet. Research work had been extremely difficult, as these monkeys live on steep slopes at high elevations, at times ranging above 4,000 meters above sea level. Today, the monkeys are well-protected and can be regularly seen above the CERS Lisu Cultural Village at Xiangguqing.