Photo of the Day: treetop gibbon

You may have noticed a small omission from our Expedition Report on agile gibbons: photos of the lovely gibbons themselves!

Susan Cheyne of the WildCRU at Oxford is working deep in the forests of Indonesia studying the Bornean sub-species of the agile gibbon (Hylobates albibarbis).

After suffering a few problems with Internet access she has managed to send over this photo taken from her recent excursion into the Tall Interior Forest in Sabangau National Park. It shows an adult female Bornean Southern Gibbon in the treetops.

Observing gibbon behaviour high up in the forest canopy is very challenging: gibbons take up positions like these when they are listening or about to 'sing'.

Gibbons pit their singing prowess against intruders to protect their home range and these amazing 'duets' can be heard for up to 2km. They will sing in the morning to mark out territorial boundaries and let other groups know where they are.

You can find out more by reading Susan's Gibbon Diaries. 

Listen to audio files of singing gibbons. 

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