White-Handed Gibbon Fact Sheet

Class:
Mammalia 
Order:
Primate
Family:
Hylobatidae
Genus:
Hylobates
Species:
lar
Life span:
In the wild, 25 years
Up to 44 years under human care
Gestation:
7 months
Number of young at birth:
Age of maturity:
8 years 
Size:
18 – 25 in. long
Weight:
10 – 13 lb
Size at birth:
A little less than 1 lb
Habitat: Rainforests, tall trees
Range: South East Asia
Diet: Fruits, leaves, insects and flowers. Occasionally birds and eggs

 

Fun Facts:

  • Expert at traveling in the trees

  • Arms are longer than its legs, which allows the gibbon to cover a great distance, nearly 10 feet, with each pendulum swing of its body.

  • Males can be either black or blonde

  • Skin is black and the fur around its face, hands and feet are white. They are uniformly colored, but colors may vary from cream to red, brown or almost black.

  • Originally from tropical and subtropical forests of the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia

  • Only primates that habitually walk upright on their hind legs. They walk with arms held high for balance.

  • Live in small groups of a pair with up to four offspring

  • Gibbons are considered apes and not monkeys. Apes do not have tails. 

 

Back to Mammals