New conservation action launched to save four threatened Gibbon species
Sat, 24 Oct 2020

On International Gibbon Day, IUCN Save Our Species announces it is launching a new Gibbon conservation initiative this year to save four Critically Endangered and Endangered gibbon species.


Female Northern-Yellow cheeked Gibbon and her baby

This International Gibbon Day, IUCN Save Our Species announces its support to conservation initiatives in Asia to save four gibbon species: the Critically Endangered Cao Vit Gibbon (Nomascus nasutus) in Viet Nam and Northern White-cheeked Gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) in Lao PDR as well as the Endangered Northern Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon (Nomascus annamensis) in Cambodia and Silvery Gibbon (Hylobates moloch) in Indonesia.

Some CHF 500,000 (EUR 466,524) for the four projects was given by Private Foundation from The Netherlands.

The IUCN SOS Gibbons initiative is implemented in collaboration with IUCN Asia Regional Office.

Known for their vigorous vocal displays, Gibbons are unique small apes composed of 20 species, all of which are endemic to South and Southeast Asia. Gibbons play an important role in seed dispersal, which contributes to maintaining the health of the forests they call home, and benefit the communities that also utilise forest resources.

“I believe the presence of gibbons in the forest is contributing to the maintenance of the forest cycle — in particular, their role in seeds dispersal, which keep the forest healthy and sustainable,” said Mr. Dudi Denci, Coffee farmer, West Java, Indonesia.

Gibbons populations continue to dwindle because of poaching, one of the major threats to these small apes whose bones are commonly used in traditional medicine as ‘monkey bone balm’ or tonic additives. The decrease in gibbon population is also largely due to habitat loss as a result of urban expansion and land conversion, mostly for agriculture.

Globally, gibbons are one of the most threatened families of primates; six species are considered Critically Endangered, 13 Endangered and one Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.

This means they are all at significant risk of extinction. Conserving these small apes seems a daunting task, however, interventions are underway in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam, through the support of IUCN Save Our Species.

“Time is running out to conserve gibbons and their habitats. We need to act now and ensure that people and gibbons can live in harmony,” said Mr. Alexander McWilliam, Programme Coordinator, and Project Manager, Natural Resources Group, IUCN Asia.

In Vuen Sai Siem Pang National Park (VSSPNP), Cambodia, the Northern Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon is threatened by decreasing forest cover. Estimates suggest that 179 hectares of forest are lost in Cambodia every year. IUCN Save Our Species grantee Conservation International will implement interventions to enhance law enforcement, capacity building of national park authorities and provide incentives for conservation through improved livelihoods for communities.

“In Cambodia, agricultural expansion and illegal timber trade have led to the loss of 179 hectares of forest per year. Poaching also threatens the Northern Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon,” said Jackson Frechette, Project Manager, Conservation International.
Full article: https://www.iucn.org/news/species/20201 ... on-species

Buy as much habitat as you can with that money and pay some dudes to protect it from poachers. One of the best experiences in my life was seeing wild orang utans in Sumatra. Unforgettable.

More information here on Cambodia's rare ape, the Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbon. They are an endangered species on the IUCN red list and can be found in the Keo Seima Wildlife Santuary (KSWS) in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, as well as in some parts of Vietnam:




https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/ ... -Area.aspx

A new survey and documentation of Cambodia's gibbons began in Preah Vihear in December 2021.

Pileated gibbon study underway
Mom Kunthear | Publication date 26 December 2021 | 21:38 ICT

The Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Programme (WCS) Biodiversity Team, in collaboration with the Preah Vihear provincial Department of Environment, have initiated a six-month research project that involves a survey of pileated gibbons in the northern province’s Phnom Tbeng Natural Heritage Park.

The pileated gibbon (Hylobates pileatus) is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species as “Endangered”.

Launched early this month, the project aims to determine the distribution and population density of the thickly-coated lesser apes, and develop an initial conservation management plan to protect and preserve the species.

The survey will be conducted by The Northern Plains Landscape REDD+ project (NPL REDD+), and supported by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a bureau under the Department of the Interior.

Populations of pileated gibbons are found in western Cambodia, southeastern Thailand and southwestern Laos, the NPL REDD+ said in a Facebook post.

Ministry of Environment spokesperson Neth Pheaktra recently said Cambodia is believed to have the highest population of pileated gibbons worldwide, at about 35,000, which is 53.8 per cent of the IUCN’s 65,000 global estimate.

In Cambodia, he said, the highly-arboreal apes mainly live in the forest, particularly in protected areas, and above all in the Cardamom Mountains.

There are around 30,000 pileated gibbons in the eastern part of neighbouring Thailand, and just a small number believed left in southwestern Laos, Pheaktra said.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... y-underway

More information, facts and figures, on the pileated gibbons here: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Hy ... _pileatus/
For example: Gibbons are monogamous and live in small family groups consisting of a couple and their children.

Reproduction
All gibbons, including pileated gibbons, are monogamous and form small family groups consisting of a mating pair and young offspring. These groups occupy and defend a constant home range. At any one time, a single family group usually consists of one mating pair and two offspring of staggered ages, which eventually leave as additional offspring are born. (Brockelman, et al., 2008; Nowak and Walker, 1999)