Eastern white-browed gibbon
| Eastern white-browed gibbon | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Hoolock leuconedys | ||||||||||||
| ( Groves , 1967) |
The eastern white-browed gibbon or eastern hulock ( Hoolock leuconedys ) is a tailless species of monkey found in Myanmar east of the Chindwin , in the east of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh ( Dibang Valley and Lohit districts ) and in the northwest of the Chinese province of Yunnan . The closely related western white-browed gibbon ( H. hoolock ) lives to the west of the chindwin .
features
As with all gibbons, the front limbs are much longer than the rear ones. This enables them to use the unique form of locomotion in the animal kingdom, rocking (brachiation). Your thumb is rooted near the wrist, allowing a secure grip around the branches. Eastern white-browed gibbons can weigh 6 to 9 kg. Like the crested gibbons , the white- browed gibbons also show a pronounced sexual dimorphism . The males are black and have white eyebrows. In the eastern white-browed gibbon, however, they are separate, in the western white-browed gibbon they are more or less fused together. The chest is lighter than the western white-browed gibbon and has a slightly silvery sheen. The hair below the eyes and on the chin is white. Females have a yellowish to sand-colored fur, the belly is dark brown, the top of the head and the face are almost completely white. Hands and feet can be lighter than the rest of the body. The female of the western white-browed gibbon has a light copper color, the belly is lighter and the dark face is only surrounded by a ring of white hair.
Way of life
The eastern white-browed gibbon lives on tall trees in closed, evergreen deciduous forests, but also in forests in which pines make up a large part of the tree population. In Myanmar they have been observed up to an altitude of around 2300 meters, in China up to an altitude of 2600 meters and in India up to 1865 meters. Reproduction and other behaviors have not yet been researched in detail. Like all gibbons, they feed primarily on ripe fruits, as well as leaves, shoots and petioles. The females become sexually mature at the age of seven.
threat
The Eastern white-browed gibbon is classified as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN . It is protected in Myanmar, China and India. Habitat destruction and hunting, especially in the northern regions on the Chinese border, are the threats to the population in Myanmar. Since 1984, 56 places in Myanmar are known where the gibbons occur. In China, however, only 50 to 300 specimens live in three districts in 17 subpopulations, the largest consists of only five groups. The population in the Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve in China appears relatively safe, although it is very small and therefore very endangered. The Chinese subpopulations are decreasing more and more. The eastern white-browed gibbon has already become extinct in nine places and five subpopulations, which consist of only one single group, are also doomed. Local extinctions are caused by deforestation, hunting and agriculture. Hunting has been very intense in the past, but in some regions the species has never been hunted, although other species of monkeys are caught by the population there. The population in India is restricted to a small area in the northeast. 3000 individuals occur here. However, the number is decreasing because of hunting and slash and burn for agriculture. The most important population is in Myanmar with 290,000–370,000 specimens living in an area of 42,500 km 2 . Overall, the eastern white-browed gibbon occurs in at least eight protected areas.
literature
- David J. Chivers, Martina V. Anandam, Colin P. Groves, Sanjay Molur, Benjamin M. Rawson, Matthew C. Richardson, Christian Roos & Danielle Whittaker: Family Hylobatidae (Gibbons). Pp. 779-780 in Russell A. Mittermeier , Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson : Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Volume 3. Primates. Lynx Editions, 2013, ISBN 978-8496553897
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hoolock leuconedys in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Brockelman, W. & Geissmann, T., 2008. Accessed December 5, 2015.