White handed gibbon
- Class: Mammals (Mammalia)
- Order: Primater (Primates)
- Family: Gibbons (Hylobatidae)
- Genus: Hylobates
- Species: Hylobates lar
Size
The white-handed gibbon weighs between 4 and 8 kg.
Ecology
Gibbons are superb acrobats, their extremely long arms and hook-like fingers render them perfectly adapted for living almost exclusively in the treetops. They travel at great speeds through the forest canopy by ‘brachiating’, a special method of swinging from arm to arm beneath the branches. They have no tail to counter-balance their swing, which illustrates their exceptional sense of balance and agility.
Gibbons form pairs for life. They sing to stake out their territory and to strengthen the pair bond, and all perform a daily 15-minute morning chorus that carries up to 2?km away. At night, gibbons also sleep high on tree branches, but are the only apes that do not build sleeping nests.
Food habits
White-handed gibbons greatly discriminate when choosing their food more than do other apes, since they usually have a large variety of food to chose from in their habitat. They eat ripe fruit and tender shoots, also insects, eggs and birds.
Longevity
White-handed gibbons live to approximately 30 years in the wild, and up to 34 years in zoos.
Reproduction
The female gives birth to a single young every 2 to 3 years following a gestation period of 7 months. The young stays with its family until reaching sexual maturity, which occurs between 6 to 8 years of age. A family of gibbons therefore usually consists of the mother, father and 3 or at most 4 young.
Conservation status
The white-handed gibbon population in south-east Asia has been decimated due to hunting and the logging of their natural habitat.
IUCN Threat Category:
Near threatened.
