The Agile Gibbon (Hylobates agilis) is a largely arboreal gibbon living in South-east Asia, in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. With their long arms they can swing from branch to branch very fast and hardly every come to the ground (they can cover a distance of 10 meters from branch to branch !). Gibbon pairs are monogamous, mated pairs stick together until one mate dies. Agile gibbons defend their territory by 'singing'. In the morning, loud songs can be heard throughout the forest. Their diet consists mainly of fruit and is supplemented by insects, leaves and flowers. Their natural predators are snakes and raptors. Because the agile gibbons prefer the upper canopy, they are difficult for other predators to catch. Their main threats are habitat destruction and poaching for meat and the pet trade. Interesting fact: Gibbons have no tails.
Picture of the Agile Gibbon by Alessio Marrucci, licensed under GFDL
Keywords: black
The Agile gibbon, dark-handed gibbon is listed as Near Threatened (LR/nt), is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Namings for the agile gibbon
A agile gibbon group is called a 'flange'.Some facts about the
Agile gibbon
Adult weight : 5.925 kg (13.035 lbs)
Maximum longevity : 49 years
Weaning : 724 days
Litter size : 1
Interval between litters : 1138 days
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