GIBBONS
GIBBONS
Also called smaller apes or lesser apes, the Gibbon family is divided into 4 genera, with at least 20 species and at least 9 subspecies
CRESTED GIBBONS
Genus: Nomascus
Nomascus concolor
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Black crested gibbons have lost 75% of their habitat to hunting and human encroachment, giving this small ape the unfortunate status of being one of the world’s most endangered primates. Today, the black crested gibbon survives in remote, largely inaccessible pockets of sub-tropical and montane evergreen…
Nomascus nasutus
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
The cao-vit gibbon is an ape species found primarily in the trees of a small forest on the border of northern Vietnam and southeast China. Cao-vit gibbons—sometimes known as eastern black-crested gibbons—have had a rough go of survival. Decades ago, the ape species covered an expansive forest east of the Red River throughout…
Nomascus hainanus
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
With a total population of only 30 individuals, the Hainan gibbon is the world’s rarest ape and one of the world’s rarest mammals. Also known as the Hainan black-crested gibbon, until 2019, the species was restricted to just 0.77 sq mi (2 sq km), as reported in 2017, within the Bawangling National Nature Reserve on the western side of Hainan Island in the South China…
Nomascus funereus
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
The northern gray gibbon, also known as the eastern gray gibbon or the North Bornean gray gibbon, is endemic to Borneo—the third largest island in the world and shared by three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. This species lives in select areas of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, as well as in Kalimantan in…
Nomascus leucogenys
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
The northern white-cheeked gibbon is today found only in northwestern Vietnam and northern Laos. A small population was recorded in southern China as recently as the 1980s, but more recent surveys have failed to find any trace of them in the area; they are therefore now considered extinct in China. They inhabit both…
Nomascus annamensis
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The northern yellow-cheeked crested gibbon, also known as the northern buffed-cheeked gibbon, lives in the tropical rainforests of Laos, Cambodia, and central Vietnam. This species inhabits broadleaf evergreen and semi-evergreen forests at elevations between 330 to 3940 feet (100-1200 m) above sea level…
Nomascus siki
CONSERVATION STATUS: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
Southern white-cheeked gibbons are endemic to Southeast Asia, east of the Mekong River, in central Laos and Vietnam. The wet tropical climate of this area nurtures the perfect habitat for these arboreal apes. Primary lowland forest and tall primary broadleaf forest both provide the type of dizzying canopies where they…
Nomascus gabriellae
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The southern yellow-cheeked crested gibbon, also known as the red-cheeked gibbon, lives in the tropical rainforests of southern Vietnam and southeastern Cambodia. Tall evergreen and semi-evergreen forests offer these arboreal primates ideal living conditions, but they are occasionally found in mixed bamboo and…
DWARF GIBBONS
Genus: Hylobates
Hylobates agilis
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The agile gibbon, also called the black-handed gibbon or the dark-handed gibbon, is endemic to Sumatra, Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, and southern Thailand. This region offers tropical rainforests that range from swamp and lowland forests to hill, submontane, and montane forest, and which are the preferred habitats of…
Hylobates muelleri
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The Bornean gibbon, also known as the grey gibbon or Müller’s gibbon, is endemic to the island of Borneo, which is split between the nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. They occur throughout southeast Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island, compromising 73% of the island’s area. The southwest region of the…
Hylobates albibarbis
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The Bornean white-bearded gibbon, also known as the Bornean agile gibbon or southern gibbon, is found across the southwest of the island of Borneo, in the Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces. They inhabit a range of primary, secondary, and selectively logged tropical evergreen forest types, with…
Hylobates klossii
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The Kloss’s gibbon, also known as the Mentawai gibbon, the dwarf siamang or the bilou, is native to the four Mentawai Islands of Siberut, Sipora, North and South Pagai. These islands are in Southeast Asia, off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Annual rainfall on these islands can reach 157 inches (4m). These are…
Hylobates pileatus
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The pileated gibbon, also known as the capped or crowned gibbon, is a native of the southeast Asian countries of Thailand, Cambodia, and a small portion of Laos. They live in lush seasonal evergreen and mixed deciduous-evergreen forests, up to elevations of about 4,900 feet (1,500 m). They prefer old-growth forests with…
Hylobates moloch
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The silvery gibbon, also known as Javan gibbon, Moloch gibbons, and locally as owa jawa, is very rare and endangered. The species is confined to 29 fragmented forested areas in western and central Java. The largest populations are found in the lowland and lower montane rainforest in the west, at altitudes below 5,000-6,000…
Hylobates lar
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
White-handed gibbons, also known as lar gibbons, live in the tropical rainforests of southern and Southeast Asia. Of all the gibbon species, white-handed gibbons inhabit the greatest north-south range. They make their homes in the countries of Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Scientists speculate on the…
HOOLOCK GIBBONS
Genus: Hoolock
Hoolock leuconedys
CONSERVATION STATUS: VULNERABLE
Eastern hoolock gibbons live in the forests between the Chindwin and Irrawady Rivers that flow through the northern half of Myanmar. Eastern hoolock gibbon groups keep extensive home ranges. As such, these apes make use of a number of forest habitats, including scrub, semi-deciduous and broadleaf forests. Primary…
Hoolock tianxing
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
Skywalker hoolock gibbons, also known by their less galactic (and definitely less Hollywood blockbuster-inspired) name of Gaoligong hoolock gibbons, are lesser apes native to the countries of China and Myanmar. In China, these primates are found in western Yunnan Province in the Nujiang River Valley (known locally as…
Hoolock hollock
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
Western Hoolock gibbons, also known as white-browed gibbons, are the only apes that live in the Indian sub-continent. They thrive in the dense forests that extend from east of the Brahmaputra River in northeast India, through Bangladesh, and into western Myanmar. There may be some populations living in extreme south…
SIAMANG
Genus: Symphalangus
Symphalangus syndactylus
CONSERVATION STATUS: ENDANGERED
The siamang is found in the mountain and lowland forests on Sumatra (the westernmost island of Indonesia), Malaysia, and small parts of Thailand. Despite being the largest of the “lesser apes”, siamang families cover only about 50 to 60 acres of territory, particularly areas rich in leaves and figs. Like all gibbons, they…