12 March 2015
The white-cheeked gibbons Malou and Trom have become parents for the second time. The little one arrived on February 19th and everything has gone well. Malou, who turns 13 this year, is a very good and calm mother, and the almost 20-year-old father Trom also shows affection towards the baby, which in the beginning only clings to its mother's belly where it has both food and warmth close at hand. The babies are the same colour as the mother when they are born so that they blend into the mother's fur and are not visible to predators, among others. Around 6 months of age, they change colour and become black in their fur. Males subsequently remain black with white cheeks, while females once again change colour when they become sexually mature and turn white-beige with a black spot on their head.
The breeding pair already have the young Mohio, who will be three on 4 April. The older brother is very curious about his little sibling and wants to investigate and look closer. Mum lets him get close but tells him off if he's too rough.
Gibbons have a funny appearance. They have a body adapted for life high up in the treetops and extremely long arms and flexible joints that make them true experts at swinging between branches. At the park Zoo, there also live white-handed gibbons named Tarzan, Jane, Korak, and Chili, who belong to another species.
The white-cheeked gibbon is critically endangered and its numbers are declining in Laos and Vietnam, where they are naturally found, primarily due to deforestation for agriculture and timber, but also due to hunting for meat, traditional medicine, or as part of illegal trade. They were previously found in China, but as no individuals have been seen since 1990, it is suspected they are extinct there. A tip for everyone is to avoid the vegetable fat, palm oil, which we use a lot of in Sweden and which severely impacts gibbons. The white-cheeked gibbon is included in the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums' breeding programme for the conservation of endangered species.
Here you will find a report from Ekuriren, who came to visit the newcomer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgAeMS7JYFA&feature=youtu.be