Animals
Class: Mammal
Biome:
Conservation Status: Endangered
About this animal
Similar to the Lar and Siamang gibbon, agile gibbons inhabit monsoon and evergreen rainforests on islands and mainland of Southeast Asia. As their name suggests the agile gibbon is an excellent climber. It is one of the fastest and most acrobatic moving of all the primates – it virtually flies from tree to tree in its forest home. They need to be surrounded by trees as they eat a lot of leaves and rarely come down to ground. The older young in the agile gibbon family help to rear their brothers and sisters. All species of gibbon are monogamous. Family groups consisting of mated pair and offspring establish small, stable home ranges which they will defend. Sub-adults are forced out of the group and will live singly until a new territory is established. Calls and songs have been extensively studied. Calls are species specific and differ depending on whether it is male or female. Group calls include morning chorus and duets between males and females. The calls of females are the longest and most distinctive.
Did you know?
The male gibbons can be identified as they always have white cheeks.
