Silvery Gibbon

Silvery gibbons are amazing acrobats. They swing effortlessly from tree to tree in the forest canopy, bridging gaps as wide as 10 m. With their exceptionally long arms, they employ a swift handover- hand swinging technique known as brachiation. Silvery gibbons use both their hookshaped hands as well as their feet to grasp branches, with the opposable big toe acting like a thumb.

When two silvery gibbons fi nd each other, they stay together for life. The resulting monogamous family group consists of the adult male and female with their young. The female gives birth to a single infant about every three years, after a gestation period of seven months. Juvenile silvery gibbons attain sexual maturity at the age of about eight, at which time they must leave the group to start a new family.

Silvery gibbons are endemic to Java, i.e. they are only found on this one island.