Just 25 Hainan gibbons, Nomascus hainanus, are left in a small patch of rainforest on Hainan island in south China, where they live in three family groups and sing together at dawn.
But experts at the Zoological Society of London believe that with large scale funding the last few Hainan gibbons could not only be saved but helped to expand and recover their former territories.
They dispute the official Chinese account of the collision that led to the landing of the EP-3 surveillance plane in Hainan.
High noon in Hainan Does Britain want to be rich?
The rules, like one Hainan announced in 2012 giving its public-security officials the right to board foreign ships in its waters and expel or detain those on them, seem to breach the spirit of the declaration.They also flout the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The rules, like one Hainan announced in 2012 giving its public-security officials the right to board foreign ships that are in its waters illegally and to expel or detain those on them seem a clear breach, at least of the spirit of the declaration.They also clearly flout the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Two years ago America complained when Chinese vessels harassed a surveillance ship, the USNS Impeccable, in the South China Sea south of the Chinese island-province of Hainan.
Related: Hainan gibbon 'clinging on' with 25 left in China "If they [the gaps] are tens of metres across rather than hundreds of metres, there are different ways of bridging those.
As a result, the People's Republic is now home to the two biggest golf clubs in the world: Mission Hills Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong, which features seven 18-hole resort and championship courses, and Mission Hills Haikou, still under construction on the tropical island of Hainan and which will have 22 golf courses on offer.
Chinese leaders have accused the plane of "invading" China's airspace, and of landing on Hainan without permission.American officers say that reckless flying of the faster and more manoeuvrable Chinese jets was the more likely cause of the collision.
The Hainan gibbon's current plight is an improvement on ten years ago, when the chorus was down to a dozen.
