Gibbons

Crested Gibbons: Nomascus

These subspecies are included:

Black Crested Gibbon: Nomascus concolor

Cao Vit Gibbon: Nomascus nasutus

Hainan Gibbon: Nomascus hainanus

Northern Gray Gibbon: Nomascus funereus

Northern White-Cheeked Gibbon: Nomascus leucogenys

Northern Yellow-Cheeked Gibbon: Nomascus annamensis

Southern White-Cheeked Gibbon: Nomascus siki

Southern Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbon: Nomascus gabriellae

Hoolock Gibbon: Hoolock

These subspecies are included:

Eastern Hoolock Gibbon: Hoolock leuconedys

Skywalker Hoolock Gibbon: Hoolock tianxing

Western Hoolock Gibbon: Hoolock hollock

Siamang: Symphalangus

Siamang: Symphalangus syndactylus

Black Crested Gibbon

Nomascus concolor

Conservation status: critically endangered

• Also called black gibbons, concolor gibbons, Indochinese gibbons, or western black crested gibbons.

• They occur discontinuously in southwestern China, northwestern LAO PDR, and northern Vietnam; they are losing habitat at an alarming rate.

• Sexually dichromatic; males are black and females are golden-buff.

• Populations have decreased 80% in 45 years; only 1,500 mature individuals remain wild.

• Threatened by forest loss and hunting.

• Life span: 25-30 years in the wild.

• High energy food diet: fruits high in sugar such as figs and seasonal fruits.

Cao-Vit Gibbon

Nomascus nasutus

Conservation status: critically endangered

• Named for their distinctive call, cao-vit.

• Also called eastern black crested gibbons.

• Considered extinct until 2002.

• Endemic to China in a very small and restricted karst forest.

• Thanks to coordinated conservation efforts, their population has rebounded and stabilized at an estimated 135 individuals—twice that of when discovered in 2002.

• Vietnamese populations have likely been hunted to extinction.

• Life span: unknown due to small population.

• No sexual dimorphism in size.

Hainan Gibbons

Nomascus hainanus

Conservation status: critically endangered

• The world’s rarest apes and one of the world’s mammals.

• Depleted by hunting and habitat loss, as of early 2024, the total population was 42 individuals (an increase from 37 in 2022).

• Restricted to a small geographic range in the Bawangling National Nature Reserve on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.

• In late 2019, a family was spotted living outside the park and is thriving today thanks to intense conservation efforts and community education.

• Life span: 30-40 years in the wild.

Northern Gray Gibbon

Nomascus funereus

Conservation status: critically endagered

• Also known as the eastern gray gibbon or northern Bornean gibbon.

• Endemic to Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

• Not well studies, estimates of both habitat and population losses are based on extensive studies of other Bornean gibbons.

• Tolerant of selective logging as long as sufficiently tall, fruit-bearing trees are present.

• Threatened by habitat loss primarily due to fires, illegal logging, and forest clearing for oil palm plantations.

• Life span: around 30 years.

Northern White-Cheeked Gibbon

Nomascus leucogenys

Conservation status: critically endangered.

• Found only in the forests of northwestern Vietnam and northern Laos in regions relatively inaccessible to humans.

• They are considered to be extinct in China.

• Populations in Vietnam are small and isolated.

• Greater populations reside in Laos due to taboos against killing gibbons.

• Threatened by habitat loss due to logging, agricultural expansion and gold mining.

• Life span: about 28 years.

Northern Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbon

Nomascus annamensis

Conservation status: endangered

• Also called northern buff-cheeked gibbons.

• Endemic to Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam.

• They live in monogamous family groups of parents and offspring.

• Mostly frugivorous, they supplement their diets with leaves, young shoots, and flowers, and occasionally squirrels and lizards.

• Threatened by habitat loss, habitat degradation, hunting, and pet trade.

• Life span: upwards of 30 years.

Southern White-Cheeked Gibbon

Nomascus siki

Conservation status: critically endangered

• Found in the forests of southern Laos and north-central Vietnam.

• Females are gold, males are black, and both have a white “halo” of hair around their black faces.

• They live in forest canopy and travel via brachiation, easily swinging from one hold to the next thanks to their long forearms, hook-like fingers, and mobile shoulder joints.

• Threatened by forest fragmentation, hunting, and the illegal pet trade.

• Only 600 mature individuals remain.

• Life span: upwards of 30 years.

Southern Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbon

Nomascus gabriellae

Conservation status: endangered

• Also called gold-cheeked, red-cheeked, yellow-cheeked, and buff-cheeked gibbons.

• Endemic to Laos, southern Vietnam, and Southeastern Cambodia.

• Living high in the canopy, they have easy access to seasonal fruits and are beyond the reach of predators.

• Threatened by habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat, use in folkloric medicines, and the pet trade.

• Life span: upwards of 30 years.

Dwarf Gibbons: Hylobates

These subspecies are included:

Abbott’s Gray Gibbons: Hylobates abbotti

Agile Gibbon: Hylobates agilis

Bornean Gibbon: Hylobates muelleri

Bornean White-Bearded Gibbon: Hylobates albibarbis

Kloss’s Gibbon: Hylobates klossii

Pileated Gibbon: Hylobates pileatus

Silvery Gibbon: Hylobates moloch

White-Handed Gibbon: Hylobates lar

Abbott’s Gray Gibbon

Hylobates abbotti

Conservation status: vulnerable

• Also called Abbott’s gibbon or western gray gibbon.

• Endemic to southwest Borneo, Indonesia and Sarawak, Malaysia.

• Their diet includes young leaves, fruits, flowers, and insects.

• They live in primary forests and can tolerate secondary forests as long as fruit-bearing trees remain.

• Threatened by habitat loss, hunting, and live capture for pet trade.

• Life span: about 25 years.

Agile Gibbon

Hylobates agilis

Conservation status: endangered

• Also called dark-handed gibbons.

• Native to Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Thailand.

• They live in monogamous family groups of up to four.

• They travel, swinging from tree to tree via brachiation.

• Threatened by habitat loss and hunting, mostly for the illegal pet trade.

• Populations are declining.

• Life span: oldest was 49 years.