Abstract: Sanjiangyuan National Park as a typical representative of alpine ecosystems is one of the most important biodiversity resources and gene pools in China. Protecting the park′s biodiversity is crucial for implementing the national ecological strategy. Ecological environment monitoring and spatial distribution surveys of large animal populations are key aspects of biodiversity conservation in Sanjiangyuan region. Various methods are currently employed to monitor ecological changes and survey the spatial distribution of large animal populations in this area. Line transect method is simple to operate and cost-effective. Moreover, it allows direct observation of animals and recording behavioral details. However, it faces challenges in monitoring highly elusive animals and is relatively inefficient in complex terrains. Infrared cameras can provide 24-hour monitoring without disturbing animal activities, and capture images for species identification. Nevertheless, it is limited by battery life and storage capacity, which requires regular maintenance. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle can quickly cover large areas and obtain high-resolution images. It is more cost-effectively than helicopters, with greater operational flexibility. However, it cannot perform long-term continuous monitoring, might disturb wildlife during flights, and are subject to weather and airspace constraints. Tethered balloons can hover at fixed points for extended periods, offering continuous monitoring of specific areas and facilitating detailed observations of animal activities and behavior changes. However, their monitoring range is fixed, making them unsuitable for quickly covering vast areas or for use in complex terrains and strong winds. Helicopters offer high mobility, enable rapid access to hard-to-reach areas and carry specialized monitoring equipment for comprehensive surveillance. However, they are costly, produce significant noise that can disturb wildlife, and require professional operation knowledge and airspace permissions. Satellite monitoring provides broad coverage, tracking global wildlife distributions and migration routes with long-term, regular data collection. Though, due to low resolution, it is challenging to accurately monitor smaller individuals, and it cannot capture real-time animal behaviors. This article reviews the main technical processes and key equipment parameters of these methods in species and population surveys, and highlights the advantages of artificial intelligence in animal identification. Finally, it focuses on the challenges and difficulties faced by monitoring technologies for large animal populations and explores future development directions for these technologies. The aim is to investigate effective ways to construct a modern monitoring technology system for national parks.