The lesser apes: about 20 species of tailless apes of Asian forests. They swing arm over arm (brachiation) up to 15 m at a time at up to 55 km/h, and mated pairs sing duets that can carry 1 km.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
About 60% of the diet is fruit, with leaves and twigs, but they also eat some insects and occasionally birds’ eggs.
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Sometimes hunted by villagers for food.
At a glance
Found inAsia
HabitatRainforest, Forest
ColoursBlack, Brown, Cream
SizeMedium
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives inpairs
Lives for25–40 years
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast India to Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Borneo and Java.
- What it eats
- About 60% fruit, plus twigs, leaves, insects, flowers and occasionally birds’ eggs.
Did you know
Swings hand over hand at 34 mph, and mated pairs sing duets.
Gibbons can leap up to 8 m.
Pairs usually keep the same mate for life, though they sometimes "divorce".
Often confused with
- Monkey
A gibbon is a small ape, not a monkey. Like all apes it has no tail, and it swings arm over arm between branches.
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