World Gibbon Day – October 24

World Gibbon Day – October 24

October 24 marks International Gibbon Day, a global celebration of these adorable, singing and acrobatic primates. The special day is all about the adorable lesser apes, who are also called “Jungle Acrobats” .This day is also important because they are the most endangered of group of apes, according the World Wildlife Fund.

Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae. There are 20 different species of Gibbons and they are endemic to the tropical and subtropical rainforests of South Asia and live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from Eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India to Southern China and Indonesia (including the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java).This includes the Hainan gibbon—the rarest primate in the world and found only on Hainan Island in China.

Gibbons’ diets are about 60% fruit-based, but they also consume twigs, leaves, insects, flowers, and occasionally birds’ eggs.

Their primary mode of locomotion, brachiation, involves swinging from branch to branch for distances up to 15 m, at speeds as high as 55 km/h. They can also make leaps up to 8 m, and walk bipedally with their arms raised for balance. They are the fastest of all tree-dwelling, nonflying mammals.

– Source: Internet –