Lar gibbon has both black and white in color. Its backhand and back-feet is white in color. It also has white marking spot circled around its face. Its face and ears are white in color. Its hand is long. Its body is streamlined without tail. Sometimes it is called “Southern Gibbon”, which is in fact is a lar gibbon.
It is found in Myanmar around Tanao Sri Mountain Range, Thailand, Lao, and Eastern part of Salween River, Western part of Mekong River, South-Western part of Yunnan, Malaysia, and Northern part of Sumatra. In Thailand, it is found in general except in Chanta Buri. HABITAT AND ECOLOGY This species is found in evergreen, semi-evergreen, and mixed evergreen-deciduous forest (sometimes known as "dry evergreen" forest, in the northern parts of its range), and is known to utilize regenerating secondary forest and selectively logged forest (Johns 1985). In northwestern Thailand, white-handed gibbons utilize patches of dry evergreen, mixed deciduous, and bamboo forest near Karen settlements if they are not hunted. This is predominantly a lowland species (below 1,000-1,500 m). Like most other species of gibbon, H. lar consumes a largely frugivorous diet that includes mainly figs, as well as young shoots, leaves, some flowers, and insects. Gibbons, unlike most macaques and leaf monkeys that often share their habitats, swallow nearly all the seeds that they ingest, making them potentially important as seed dispersers. Certain species of fruits that require the consumer to remove a tough outer cover appear to rely almost entirely on gibbons for seed dispersal (Bartlett 2007; Ellefson 1974; Gittins and Raemakers 1980; MacKinnon and MacKinnon 1978; Palombit 1992, 1997; Ungar 1995). Generation length in white-handed gibbons is on the order of 15 years. They mature late, with females maturing at 8-10 years and males at 8-12 years and have one offspring every 3 to 5 years (Brockelman et al. 1998). If a female loses a baby, she may come into oestrus sooner, but the average inter-birth interval in a population at carrying capacity is about 3.5 years (W. Brockelman pers. comm.). Average group size in H. lar generally increases with latitude, illustrating that group size is not a very useful species-specific character in gibbons. This reflects a general trend of increasing birth rate with latitude found in many vertebrate groups. Average group size has been reported at 2.7 (Chivers 1978) and 3.3 (Ellefson 1974) individuals in Peninsular Malaysia, 3.7 in central Thailand (Brockelman and Srikosamatara 1993), and 4.4 (Carpenter 1940) and 4.9 (Yimkao and Srikosamatar 2006) in northern Thailand. The average home range sizes are 44-54 ha on the Malayan peninsula (Ellefson 1974, Gittins and Raemaekers 1980, MacKinnon and MacKinnon 1980) and about 16 ha in the Khao Yai National Park in Thailand (Chivers 1984a,b).
It eats fruits, treetops, bird eggs, and insects.
It likes to swing from branch to branch. It stays on high trees all day. In order to drink water, it uses back finger to touch on water and suck on it. It likes staying in sunlight during early morning on the trees. During daytime or afternoon, where the weather is extremely hot, it will move down from the trees to avoid sunlight. When it is frightened, it swings quickly from branch to branch. The important enemies of black gibbon are hawks and pythons.
Hylobates lar, like all gibbons, is a nationally protected species in all the countries across its range, and is listed under CITES Appendix I. In most of its range it is confined to protected conservation areas (for example in Thailand, where no significant populations survive outside of protected areas). However, in most countries, these areas are not well patrolled, even if they are well managed for tourism. There is an urgent need for improved protection of these areas, ideally involving local communities that should benefit from as well as participate in management. Illegal use of forest products, as well as poaching, is common in most protected areas. Inadequate management and protection, rather than forest destruction, are the main long-term threats and conservation efforts must seek to identify the hunters and incorporate them into new management priorities.
CLASS : Mammalia
ORDER : Primates
FAMILY : Hylobatidae
GENUS : Hylobates
SPECIES : Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar)
Conservation status : Endangered
It can live up to 30 years.
It is mature and ready for mating at the age of 7 – 8 years. Gestation period is around 8 months. One litter contains only one young. Young black gibbon weans when it is 4 – 7 months and stays with its mother until it is 2 years old. Then, it will separate and live on its own.
Update : 11 April 2017
