Silvery Gibbon
From Freepedia
| Silvery Gibbon Conservation status: Critical | ||||||||||||||
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| Hylobates moloch (Audebert, 1798) |
The Silvery Gibbon (Hylobates moloch) is a primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family. Their skin is bluish gray colored with a dark grey or black cap. Like all gibbons they do not have a tail and their arms are very long compared to their body. They reach an average weight of 8 kg.
Silvery Gibbons live exclusively on the island of Java, where they inhabit deeply hidden portions of the rain forests. They are diurnal and arboreal, climbing trees skillfully and brachiating through the forests. Like all gibbon species they live together in pairs and stake out a territory that they strongly defend. Their diet consists of fruits, leaves and flowers.
On average every three years the female, after a seven month gestation, births a single young. The offspring is nursed for about 18 months and lives with the family group until it is fully mature at about 8 years.
Silvery Gibbons rank among the most threatened primates. Since the island of Java is very closely settled the natural range of the animals is pushed into ever smaller areas. One estimate says that there are no more than 2000 animals scattered among various reservations. Several zoos operate breeding programs, but the survival of this species is questionable.
