Gibbons. Gibbons Lifestyle and social behavior

Gibbons are a separate family of monkeys, which includes 4 genera. This story contains all the most interesting things about these primates, as well as photos and videos of gibbons.

The main feature of gibbons is the fact that they form pairs based on sympathy, just like people. Gibbons are endangered animals, so many species of these monkeys are listed in the Red Book.

What do gibbons look like?

Gibbons have hind limbs that are much shorter than their front ones. Long arms allow these primates to quickly climb tree branches. The thumbs on the forelimbs are located at a considerable distance from the other fingers, thereby ensuring a good grasping reflex. These primates have short snouts with large eyes. Monkeys of this family have well-developed throat sacs, so they can make loud sounds.

The body size of gibbons varies between 48-92 centimeters. Representatives of the family weigh from 5 to 13 kilograms.

The fur is thick. The color can range from light brown to dark brown. In some gibbons, the color can be almost light white, or, on the contrary, black. But gibbons with pure black or light fur are extremely rare. It is very difficult to see a white gibbon. These monkeys have ischial calluses.

Distribution of gibbons on the planet

Gibbons live in areas of Southeast Asia, subtropical and tropical forests from Indonesia to India. In the north of their range, gibbons live in the younger regions of China. They are also found on the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Java.

Gibbon lifestyle and nutrition

As noted above, the family consists of 4 genera - hulok, siamang and. The most numerous representatives of the family are nomascus. This genus consists of 7 species. Huloki are represented by two species, and siamang by only one.

Listen to the voice of the gibbon

All these species of monkeys are territorial animals and their behavior and habits are similar. When monkeys occupy possessions, they communicate this to other primates with loud cries that can be heard at a distance of several kilometers.

Gibbons do not build nests for resting; in this they differ from great apes. This family does not have tails.

These are fast animals that skillfully move in the treetops. Jumping from branch to branch, they cover distances of up to 15 meters. They can move in this way at speeds of up to 55 kilometers per hour.

Gibbons are herbivores.

From a standing position, gibbons can jump up to 8 meters. These monkeys walk perfectly on two legs, and at the same time they are one of the most fast mammals living in the crowns of trees.

Since gibbons move quickly along branches, falls are inevitable. Experts suggest that each monkey broke bones several times during its life.

Adult gibbons live in pairs, with young people up to 8 years old staying with them. After this, young females and males leave the family and live alone for some time until they find a chosen one. It can take gibbons up to 2-3 years to find a mate.

Gibbons are animals in whose pack matriarchy reigns.

Parents often help their young children choose suitable site a habitat. When you have your own territory, it becomes much easier to find a partner.

The gibbon's diet mainly consists of plant foods: leaves and fruits. But primates also feed on insects, eggs and small vertebrates.

The white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) lives in Indochina, Thailand, Sumatra and Malacca. Its white hands and feet contrast greatly with the very dark rest of its limbs. The black-handed or fast gibbon (Hylobates agilis) from the island of Sumatra has black limbs and the whole body, with a white stripe on the forehead.

The silvery gibbon, or "wow-wow" (Hylobates moloch), from the islands of Java and Kalimantan varies greatly in hair color - from black to silver-gray, on the forehead there is a pale superciliary stripe, on the crown and chest dark colors. The hoolock gibbon (Hylobates hoolock) of Assam and Burma is the largest of the common gibbons. Cubs at birth gray, and then their coat gradually changes to black. After reaching sexual maturity, the female becomes brownish, while the male remains black with a white supercilium.

The black or one-color gibbon (Hylobates concolor), living in Vietnam, Laos and the island of Hainan, unlike the other five species, has a crest of hair sticking up on the top of its head, which in males lengthens in the middle of the crown, and in females - on the sides tops of heads. He is often called crested gibbon. The black gibbon has a naked throat resonator sac. The Kloss gibbon (Hylobates Klossii) from the Mentawai Islands (west of Sumatra) is covered with black hair that is less dense than other species; he has a halo of white hair around his black face. This species has small skin membranes between the second and third, third and fourth toes.

Gibbons live in tropical rain and mountain (up to 2 thousand m above sea level) forests. They do not nest at night and sleep in dense foliage in the middle part of trees. At dawn, gibbons climb to the treetops and begin their morning concerts, which last about two hours. The whole family takes part in the singing. It's a real melody that starts on E, moves up to a full octave, and then into trills. Neighboring groups join in the singing of one family. Evening concerts are less common.

After singing, the family goes down and begins to walk around their territory. Gibbons use their fingers and teeth to peel the skin off the fruit and select the best parts. Sometimes they eat bird eggs and chicks. If an old individual lives in a group and is unable to obtain food for itself, other members of the family take care of it and bring food. Gibbons drink from springs (dip their hands into the water and lick it off their fur). After satiation, gibbons return to their tree and spend time resting and playing. They do not have quarrels over food, they look after and carefully search each other, and are very clean. Males do not show aggression.

Pregnancy in gibbons lasts 210 days. One cub is born, usually at two- and three-year intervals. The cub is born with an almost naked body, and the mother warms it by carrying it on her stomach. The cub depends on the mother for up to two years, reaching sexual maturity at 7-10 years. Young sexually mature males and females, having met, spend 2-3 weeks playing and courting each other. Then, as attachment increases, they leave their families and look for unoccupied trees in the forest.

Both in the wild and in captivity, young gibbons spend a lot of time playing; In zoos they observed games of blind man's buff and cat and mouse. In captivity, their lifespan can reach 30 years. These are friendly animals and easily get along with other animals. The Klossov gibbon and one subspecies of the white-handed gibbon are listed in the International Red Book.

Gibbons are a family of monkeys with 13 species. Among all primates, these animals are perhaps the most prejudiced. When mentioning a gibbon, most people immediately imagine a huge, ferocious and ugly monkey, not distinguished by tact and intelligence. In reality, gibbons look and behave very differently.

White-handed gibbons, or lars (Hylobates lar).

These monkeys are small in size, different types body weight varies from 4 to 8.5 kg. Gibbons have a thin body, a small head, with small facial features that give them a resemblance to monkeys. Indeed, gibbons are close to these monkeys, but at the same time they differ from them in a number of progressive features. For example, they do not have a tail, which makes them closer to great apes. Like humans, gibbons have 32 teeth, have blood types II, III, IV, but lack I. Scientists define differently systematic position gibbons: some consider them the most advanced among non-human apes, others consider them the most primitive among apes. Be that as it may, these animals have a close genetic relationship with people.

The body of the animals is covered with thick and relatively long hair. The palms, feet, calluses and face are left bare. Interestingly, all types of gibbons have black skin. Sexual dimorphism is not expressed. The coloring is most often monochromatic black with small white markings, located on different species. different parts body (hands, face, crown of the skull). Often there are individuals with very light fur: brown or beige.

The hind limbs of gibbons are relatively short, but the front limbs, on the contrary, are incredibly long, elongated in all joints, including the phalanges of the fingers.

The length of the arms of gibbons is 2 times the length of the body, so in a standing position they can easily touch the ground with their palms. In terms of the length of the forelimbs, these animals are absolute world record holders. No matter what the gibbon does - sitting, lying, standing, walking - his arms awkwardly stick out to the sides and seem to get in his way all the time. Because of these awkward limbs, which one would like to call rakes, gibbons have earned the reputation of freaks.

Kampuchean gibbon (Hylobates pileatus).

But nature does not have anything superfluous, so it is not without reason that the limbs of gibbons acquired this shape. The fact is that the way these monkeys move is strikingly different from the movements of other primates. Most monkeys walk or run along branches, leaning on all four limbs, and also jump, pushing off with their feet and grabbing branches with their hands. Gibbons prefer an upright posture when walking. And this is in the crowns at an altitude of several tens of meters! When a gibbon walks, it wraps its toes around the branch like a tightrope walker, and uses its long arms as a balance. But walking along branches is not the main method of transportation. In most cases, these animals move in a suspended state without support on their legs, alternately releasing one or the other hand. This method of locomotion resembles walking on hands and is called brachiation. Gibbons move their paws so quickly and dexterously that at times their movement in the treetops resembles flight. Thanks to such a large load, the gibbons' arms have become very strong; with them, the monkey is able to lift a weight several times greater than the weight of its own body.

They are the only apes that live in monogamous families.
Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Russian name- Black-handed gibbon, fast gibbon
Latin name- Hylobates agilis
English name- Agile gibbo
Class- Mammals (Mammalia)
Squad- Primates
Family- Gibbon, or small apes(Hylobatidae)
Genus- Real gibbons

Status of the species in nature

The species is listed in the International Red Book as endangered - IUCN (EN) and in Annex I of the Convention on International Trade in Species wild fauna and flora (CITES I).

Species and man

In nature, gibbons are rapidly disappearing due to human fault - the main reason currently is deforestation in their habitats. In addition, gibbons are still hunted in some places.

Distribution and habitats

Southeast Asia - Malay Peninsula, most of O. Sumatra, southwest o. Borneo. Gibbons live in tropical forests, finding both a “table and a home” in the trees; even their Latin name Hylobatidae means tree dwellers.

Appearance

Gibbons are tailless primates; they are slender and graceful monkeys, they have long arms and legs, and thick fur. Characteristic feature for all gibbons is the relative length of the limbs: their arms are much longer than their legs. This allows them to actively use a special method of movement called brachiation. Brachiation is movement in the crowns of trees solely with the help of hands, when the animal throws its body from branch to branch, like an aerial acrobat. On their hind limbs, these animals move very dexterously both on the ground and along thick branches, and they do this in the presence of any suitable support that they can hold on to.

Gibbons are quite large monkeys, body length from 45 to 64 cm, with a weight of about 6 kg. Unlike great apes, which are characterized by sexual dimorphism in body size, females and males of gibbons hardly differ in size.

Coat color is different in different populations, but the same type in both sexes in each individual population. It is usually light brown with a golden-red tint or brown; red-brown; brown, black. Males have white cheeks and eyebrows, females have brown cheeks. The color of the coat, especially the face, makes it easy to distinguish individual species gibbons, and in some cases, determine their sex.

Move in the treetops using their hands

Nutrition and feeding behavior

About half of the gibbon's daily diet consists of leaves, 40% - fruits, flowers and buds, and the rest of the diet - insects. These monkeys find almost all their food in trees.

Lifestyle and social behavior

Gibbons are diurnal animals. They move along tree branches using brachiation; they walk on the ground on their feet, while these monkeys raise their long arms to the sides and up to maintain balance.

Gibbons are monogamous. An adult couple with children usually occupies a small territory protected by them. The family group consists of a breeding pair and 1-2 young. When grown animals leave their parental group at 2-3 years of age, they live alone for some time until they find a partner and occupy their territory.

All gibbons are strictly territorial, that is, they have an individual or group area of territory that they protect from the invasion of other individuals. The average family territory is about 34 hectares. Gibbons mark the boundaries of this territory by “singing,” which can be heard for several kilometers.

Young gibbons mature by the age of six, at which time their active contacts - friendly or aggressive - with peers and adult males begin. Conflicts with adult males help mature young animals to separate from the group. This occurs around the age of 8 years. Adolescent males do not interact at all with adult females. Young males often sing alone, trying to attract a female, whom they are looking for while wandering through the forest. However, both sons and daughters can stay with their parents for a long time.

Reproduction and parental behavior

Reproduction is not seasonal. After 230-240 days of gestation, one calf is born. In an adult couple, one cub is usually born every 2-3 years, so in a family group, as a rule, there are 2 - 4 immature animals.

From the first minutes of life, the cub holds tightly to its mother and does not let go of her fur even when she quickly jumps from branch to branch. At 1.5 - 2 months, the cub descends from the female during her rest and sleeps next to her. The cub suckles its mother until 6-8 months, then little by little it begins to taste the food of adults, but at the same time continues to suckle its mother. At 10-11 months, he switches to adult food and no longer clings to his mother.

The male does not take part in raising the offspring.

Vocalization

The most expressive and energy-intensive social behavior of gibbons is singing. Most often, adult couples sing, but growing young couples, when they master their social roles, also join the chorus. The songs of gibbons are perhaps the most amazing sounds that can be heard in the tropical forests of Asia. Complex songs are performed by both males and females, sitting on the treetops, and these sounds can be heard in the forest at a distance of several kilometers. Interestingly, females and males sing different songs.

The male's solo can usually be heard before sunrise and ends at dawn. The song begins with a series of soft, simple trills that gradually develop into a series of sounds that increase in volume. The final part of the song is twice as long as the first part and contains almost twice as many notes. This singing can last 30-40 minutes.

What function do gibbon songs serve? First of all, it alerts other group members about your location. The intensity of male singing depends on the population density in the population, as well as on the number of young males looking for partners. Most zoologists believe that the main purpose of singing is to protect their mate from the attacks of single males. Family males sing more often, the more single males there are around, threatening the well-being of the family. In places where the number of single males is very low, family males do not sing at all.

Lifespan

Black-handed gibbons live between 20 and 30 years.

The Story of Life at the Zoo

The Moscow Zoo has kept black-handed gibbons since 1998. Work on their maintenance and breeding is carried out within the framework of the Pan-European Program for the Conservation and Breeding of Rare and Endangered Species (EEP).

Before this, we had a young pair of more spectacular and larger black gibbons (Hylobates concolor). But their beautiful and loud singing did not please some of the residents of the surrounding houses. They threatened the life and health of our pets. Therefore the black gibbons were sent to International Center Gibbons in California.

Gibbons at the zoo receive a variety of fruits, vegetables, green branches, eggs, and cottage cheese.

The black-handed gibbon can be seen in the Monkeys pavilion.

Gibbon family

In no group of monkeys does the development of the forelimbs reach such a degree as in gibbons, or long-armed monkeys. They rightfully bear their name, for their unusually outstretched arms reach the ground when the animal is held upright. This feature alone would be enough to distinguish long-armed monkeys from all other genera of this order.
Gibbons form a fairly extensive genus of apes*; About seven species are known which should be assigned to this genus.

* The families of gibbons (Hylobatidae) and apes (Hominidae) constitute a special group of Hominoidea, or higher narrow-nosed monkeys. The lineages of gibbons and large apes split about 10 million years ago.

They are all Asian and belong exclusively to the East Indies, as well as to the closest of the Greater Sunda Islands: Sumatra, Java and Borneo. The species included here reach quite a significant size, although none exceeds one meter in height. Their body, despite the strong and convex chest, seems very thin, since the groin area is thinned, like that of a greyhound dog; the hind limbs are much shorter than the front ones; the long arms of some species are also distinguished by the fact that the index finger is partially fused with the middle finger**.

* * The proportions of the legs and torso of gibbons are similar to those of humans. Forefinger fused with the middle one not on the arms, but on the legs in only one species of siamang.

The head is small and ovoid; the face is humanoid; the ischial calluses are small, and the tail is invisible. The body of gibbons is covered with thick and soft fur, like silk, which can be black, brown, brown-gray and straw-colored. yellow color. All gibbons have extremely in a loud voice and they especially readily make screams in the morning.
Siamang(Hylobates syndactylus) is the largest of all long-armed monkeys; it also differs in that its arms are relatively shorter than those of other species. “His appearance,” says Duvaucel, “is ugly especially because his low forehead is so underdeveloped that instead of it there are only brow arches, his eyes sit deep in their sockets, his nose seems wide and flat, his nostrils directed to the sides are very large; his mouth opens almost to the base of the jaws. If, moreover, we recall the large bare guttural sac of the siamang, which hangs on the front side of the neck in the form of a dirty and drooping crop and inflates when screaming, about the crooked limbs facing inward, which the animal always keeps bent, about the temples pressed under the protruding lumps, and an underdeveloped chin, then we will have to tell ourselves that our monkey does not belong to the most beautiful representatives of his order. The thick fur covering the body is completely black, consists of long, soft and shiny hair; only the eyebrows are red-brown. Hair on the forearm they are directed upward, on the shoulder - downward, so that on the elbow they are sort of ruffled." There are also albinos. Bock once obtained one living albino of this species. Adult males reach one meter in height, and their arm span is almost twice as large.
Siamang is usually found in the forests of Sumatra; experienced researchers have observed it both in captivity and in the wild. However, Gelfers's indication that the siamang is found even in southern Tenasserim, as well as Welles's indication that it is also found on the Malay Peninsula, are questioned by Blanford*.

* In addition to Sumatra, siamangs actually live on the Malacca Peninsula.

The most characteristic representative of the family is hoolock, or white-browed gibbon(Hylobates hoolok), a long-armed monkey, about 0.9 m high, without a laryngeal pouch and with free digits on the hind limbs. Her fur, except for the white bandage on her forehead, is jet black; the cubs are black and brown; limbs, midline along the back are ash-gray. According to Blanford, however, light-colored hoolocks of both sexes are not uncommon - from brownish-black to yellowish-gray. Ischial calluses are clearly visible. Hoolok lives in Indochina and is found, according to Blanford, in the wooded mountainous areas south of Assam throughout Arakan, and according to Anderson, as far as Vartabon. Its distribution in the east is not known with certainty; it is still found near Bhamo in the Irrawaddy Valley**.

* * Distributed in Burma, Assam and northwestern Indochina.

White-handed gibbon, or lar(Hylobates lar), approximately the same size as a hulok, black-gray in color, with red-brown buttocks bordered with white hair; the arms and legs are light in color, the face is black on the bare parts, bordered by a collar of whitish hair. The overall color ranges from black to yellowish-white; the light-colored animals are said to be much more common than those of the Hoolock, and in some localities predominate. His homeland should be considered the Malacca Peninsula*** and Tenasserim, where he lives up to 1100 meters above sea level. Tickel states that the lar occurs as far as the northern border of Pegu, and Anderson says that it occurs even in Arakan. The distribution of the lar in the east is unknown. However, he probably lives in Siam; Bock, unfortunately, does not name the species of gibbons that he observed in herds along the Mekong.

* * * Lives throughout Indochina, Thailand, Malacca, Chinese province Yunnan and northern Sumatra. It rises up to 2400 m in the mountains.

Finally, swift or black-handed gibbon(Hylobates agilis), according to Cantor, is found near the Lar and on the Malacca Peninsula. It has a bare bluish-black face (in the female it has a brownish tint) and long, thick fur, the color of which is on the head, belly and inside The arms and hips are black, over the shoulders and towards the neck it gradually becomes lighter, and in the groin it turns into pale brown, while the back to the knee joints is colored a mixture of white and reddish.
The arms and legs are dark brown. The female is lighter, her beard on her cheeks is less long than that of the male, although it is still quite large, so that the head is wider; the cubs are monochromatic - yellowish-white.
The body structure of long-armed monkeys is designed for climbing. They have everything necessary for fast, long and agile climbing and jumping. The voluminous chest accommodates big lungs who do not get tired, do not refuse to serve if rapid movement excites the blood; strong hind legs provide the necessary propulsion force for large jumps; the long forelimbs give the animal the opportunity to grab branches with great confidence, which should serve as a new fulcrum; with shorter arms it would be easy to miss. How long these arms are becomes clearer when compared. The arm span of a person, as is known, is equal to his height, and the arm span of a gibbon is almost twice the length of his body; a man standing upright barely touches his knees with his lowered hands, while a gibbon barely touches his feet. It is clear that such hands are almost unsuitable for walking: they are only suitable for climbing. Therefore, the walking of long-armed monkeys is a pitiful hobbling on the hind legs, a ponderous waddle of the body, which is kept in balance only by outstretched arms; But these animals can climb and jump on branches easily and deftly. There are apparently no boundaries for these movements; they do not seem to depend on the law of gravity. Gibbons on earth are slow, clumsy, clumsy, in short, they are strangers on earth; on the branches they represent the exact opposite - these are real birds in the form of monkeys*.

* Gibbons have perfectly mastered a special type of movement, brachiation. in which the main “engine” is the hands. Perhaps, of all primates, they are the most specialized in fast movement in crowns There they are capable of jumping up to 15 m. The way gibbons move, whether in captivity or in the wild, invariably evokes a feeling of admiration among observers. However, judging by the chronic fractures of the limbs found in 70% of monkeys, the art of brachiation is not easy for gibbons: falls from great heights also occur.

If the gorilla is the Hercules of apes, then the gibbon can be compared to a light Mercury; It is not without reason that one of them - lar - is named in memory of Mercury’s beloved, the beautiful but talkative naiad Lara, who with her restless tongue aroused the wrath of Jupiter, but with her beauty earned the love of Mercury and, thanks to this, escaped hell.
Lar lives in herds of 6-20 individuals, young and old of both sexes together. In character it is similar to the hulock, but, according to Tickel, it is not as agile and dexterous as the latter. He drinks differently, just like a siamang: he scoops up water with his hand and licks the drops running from his fingers. His cry, judging by the descriptions, is completely different from the cry of the hoolok. Lar uses his forelimbs exclusively on tree branches to such an extent that he holds any objects that he wants to take with him with his hind limbs, especially looted fruits, which he drags to a safe place when running away.
Most clumsily moves in accordance with its appearance Siamang, he not only walks slowly, but also climbs somewhat uncertainly and only when jumping does he reveal his dexterity. But other species can only move with difficulty on the ground. “In a room or on level ground,” Garlan said about the hoolock, “they walk on their hind legs and maintain their balance quite well, and they raise their hands even above their heads, slightly bend their arms at the wrist and elbow joints, and then run quite quickly, swaying to the right and to the left. If they are encouraged to move more quickly, they lower their arms to the ground and move faster, leaning on them. They jump more than run, but keep themselves fairly straight all the time." In other species, the body seems not only too long, but also too heavy for the short and thin thighs, and therefore these monkeys lean forward and use both arms as crutches when walking. “In this way they move forward in spurts, like an old man hobbling on crutches who is afraid of strong exertion.” They give a completely opposite impression when they climb. All observers are unanimously amazed at the art and dexterity that the long-armed monkeys display on the branches.
With incredible speed and confidence, a fast gibbon, according to Duvaucel, climbs onto a bamboo trunk, the top of a tree or a branch, swings on it several times up and down or back and forth and then easily throws itself, taking advantage of the elasticity of the swinging branch. He flies like an arrow or an obliquely descending bird, a distance of 12-13 meters several times in a row. It can be assumed that the consciousness of his art, unattainable for other animals, gives him great pleasure. He jumps unnecessarily over obstacles that he could easily bypass, changes direction during the jump and hangs on the first branch he likes, like an acrobat, somersaults and swings on it, quickly rises, swings up and down and again throws himself into the air, with confidence aiming for new goal. It seems like he has magical powers, can fly without wings, lives longer in the air than on the branches. What does such a gifted creature need land for? She is alien to him, just as he is to her; the earth provides him only with a refreshing drink, and, having quenched his thirst, the gibbon returns again to his airy kingdom. Here he is at home; here he enjoys peace, peace, security; here he can neglect enemies or run away from them; here he can live and enjoy his light movements.
Some observers compare the movements of free-living long-armed monkeys with the flight of swallows. All the more remarkable is G. O. Forbes' observation of the siamang. He says: “I think it is not true that these monkeys jump from tree to tree over such long distances as is usually said. I happened to see that while cutting down a forest near a village, a herd of siamangs was cut off from the nearest trees by only a distance of 30 feet; With each blow of the ax, in the greatest fear they climbed up and down the tree and did not dare to jump over this gap; when the tree began to fall, they did not dare to jump from it, but were crushed by it in the fall." From this, however, one cannot yet conclude that siamangs cannot move across a distance of 12 meters, especially obliquely downwards; it is possible that they, frightened and confused by their unusual and dangerous situation, did not think about saving themselves in the usual way. Welles, however, also says that the siamang moves much more slowly than other gibbons and does not like “huge jumps,” but still points out that he, too, “throws back and forth between trees that are far apart from each other.”
Observing these animals in the wild has its own difficulties, since almost all species of long-armed monkeys avoid humans and only occasionally approach forest clearings. “They live for the most part,” says Duvaucel about siamangs, “in numerous herds under the leadership of a leader, who, according to the Malays, cannot be wounded. If they are taken by surprise on the ground, they can be caught, since either fear makes them dumbfounded, or they themselves feel their weakness on earth and realize the impossibility of escape. No matter how numerous the herd is, it always leaves a wounded comrade, even if it was a completely young one. The mother, however, grabs the cub, tries to escape, sometimes falls down with him, then emits a loud, sorrowful cry and, with a swollen guttural sac and menacingly outstretched arms, blocks the enemy's path. But maternal love is manifested not only at the moment of danger. It sometimes happened to observe an interesting sight when mothers brought their babies to the river, washed them, despite their cries, then they carefully wiped and dried, and in general took such care of their cleanliness that such care could be wished for some human children.The Malays told Diard, and he later confirmed this with his own observation, that cubs that are not yet capable of movement are always carried and led by one of the parents, which is the same sex as the cub: male cubs are the father, female cubs are the mother*.

* Gibbons are monogamous, living in small family groups consisting of a couple and their cubs of different ages. It takes a long time for a pair to be created; a young male spends a long time courting a female from another group. The family has a territory of 5 to 40 hectares; the boundaries of the site are protected from the invasion of neighbors by shouts and demonstrative poses. One of the trees on the site serves as a permanent roosting site. Gibbons do not build nests; they sleep squatting on a branch near the trunk, with their heads in their hands. Thanks to the thick coat, the risk of getting wet in the rain is low. They feed on fruits, leaves, shoots. A baby is usually born every 2-3 years. Pregnancy lasts 200-225 days. The female leaves the cub at 2 years old (usually a younger one appears by this time), and the offspring goes entirely into the care of the father. Sexual maturity occurs at 6-10 years. Female gibbons are more proactive and play the role of leader in the family.

We also have quite detailed stories about hulocks. These monkeys, according to Garlan, stay mainly on low mountains, since they cannot stand the cold. Their food consists of fruits, but they also eat some herbs, lower branches of trees and other parts of plants; they chew them, swallow the juice, and throw away the chewed mass. Blanford reports that hoolocks, like all monkeys, willingly devour insects, especially spiders, as well as eggs and, of course, young birds, and perhaps even all the birds they manage to catch. It is even said about the fast gibbon that it can catch birds in flight. According to Aries, who lived for almost two years in the homeland of the hoolocks, these monkeys gather in the forests in societies of 50 to 100 individuals; old males, according to Blanford, separate from the herd and live separately, which is common in many mammals. Usually, hoolocks are noticed on the tops of those trees whose fruits are especially loved, but sometimes they emerge along paths from the dense forest into open clearings. Once Aries unexpectedly met a herd of these animals, which was having fun, but when it approached, it immediately raised the alarm and ran away into a bamboo thicket; another time, walking alone along a newly paved road, he suddenly saw that he was surrounded by a large herd of these monkeys, who seemed amazed and even more angry that some strangely dressed creature had entered their kingdom. When a person approaches, hoolocks generally run away with possible haste, which is why they are rarely seen. They, as Gaskerl told me, are as cautious as they are curious, and therefore often appear at the edge of the forest. open space, cut down for arable land in those areas where hunters have not yet frightened; but as soon as they notice that they are being watched or approached, they instantly hide, and after that the monkeys are no longer so easy to see. But you hear their voices more often. When the sun rises and sets, they raise such a terrible cry that you can go deaf if you are close, and get seriously scared if you are not used to this strange “music”. These are Old World howler monkeys; they wake up the inhabitants of the Malayan mountains and at the same time annoy the townspeople, whose holidays in their dachas are spoiled. It is said that their cry can be heard at a distance of an English mile. We often heard the cry of long-armed monkeys kept in captivity, both those with guttural sacs and those without these appendages that amplify their voices. One experienced observer, Bennett, held a live siamang and noticed that if he was excited by something, he would stretch out his lips like a funnel, fill his guttural sac with air and then scream almost like a turkey. He screamed equally in both joyful and angry excitement*.

* Gibbons are the only mammals other than humans capable of producing clear, melodic sounds. The morning choral singing of a gibbon family serves to mark territory and unite group members. The initiator of the “concert” is the male. Other family members pick up the “melody” in voices of different tones. The “songs” of some species contain up to 90 “knees”, consisting of several signals of different tones and timbres. The vocalization of gibbons depends on the weather, time of day, individual characteristics and the “mood” of the singers.

Observers have different opinions regarding the mental abilities of long-armed monkeys. Duvaucel speaks very poorly of the siamang: “His slowness, obscenity and stupidity remain unchanged. True, under the power of man he soon becomes as meek as he was before wild, and as trusting as he was before fearful, but always remains more fearful, than other species; it never becomes so attached to man as the other, and its obedience is rather the consequence of an unspeakable indifference than of acquired trust. It remains the same whether treated well or ill; gratitude and hatred seem to be for are alien to him. His external senses are weak. If he examines something, then indifferently; if he feels, then mechanically. This is a creature devoid of all abilities, if we arrange the animal kingdom according to the degree of development of the mind, then it would have to occupy one of the lowest places For the most part, he sits crouched, clasping himself with long arms and hiding his head between his thighs and resting or sleeping.Only from time to time he comes out of this state and interrupts the long silence with an unpleasant, meaningless cry that expresses neither feeling nor any need. Even hunger does not seem to awaken him from his natural sleepiness. In captivity, he takes food indifferently, brings it to his mouth without greed, and even allows it to be taken away. He drinks in a way that corresponds to the rest of his habits: he plunges his fingers into the water and sucks the drops hanging on them." Bokk also calls the siamang "lazy and stupid in captivity; he does not display the amusing liveliness characteristic of other monkeys and, apparently, loses his intelligibility." Such observations of individual animals, however, should not be given too much general meaning, especially since other observers, if they do not say the exact opposite, still speak much more favorably about our monkeys.
Welles paints the siamang in a more favorable light. “I bought,” he says, “a small long-armed monkey of this species, which the natives caught and tied so tightly that they even injured it. At first the siamang was quite wild and wanted to bite, but when we untied him and provided him with two poles for gymnastic exercises under the canopy of the house, and then tied him with a short rope to a ring that moved freely on a pole so that he could walk and climb back and forth, he soon calmed down, took on a contented look and began to jump very quickly here and there. At first the siamang showed signs of showing me antipathy, which I tried to eliminate by always feeding him myself. But once during feeding he bit me so hard that I lost patience and hit him hard. I had to repent of this, because after that he began to treat me even worse. He allowed my Malay boy to play with him; with these games, as well as with his own exercises, the ease and dexterity of jumping, he gave great pleasure to those around him. When I returned to Singapore, the siamang attracted everyone's attention. He ate almost all kinds of fruit and rice, and I hoped that he could be transported to England. But he died just before leaving."*

* In captivity, gibbons turn out to be quite smart and funny, they have rich facial expressions and vocal signals. Able to use sticks and ropes. These gentle primates are susceptible to infectious diseases, although they can play in open enclosures at 15 degrees below zero. There have been cases of their life expectancy in captivity up to 31 years. At the same time, due to difficulties in selecting pairs, it is extremely difficult to breed gibbons. Often, incompatibility arises between candidates for starting a family, and it is not possible to obtain offspring. In nature, the range and numbers of most gibbons are declining due to hunting and deforestation.

This story has a completely different tone than Duvaucel's story, and, moreover, is consistent with what we know about the other long-armed monkeys. One hulok, whom Garlan kept alive for five months, became so tame in less than a month that he walked with one hand holding his owner’s hand and the other leaning on the ground. “When I called,” says Garlan, “he came, sat down on a chair next to me to have breakfast with me, and took eggs or a chicken wing from the plate without dirtying the tablecloth. He also drank coffee, chocolate, milk, tea; although He usually drank by immersing his hand in the liquid, but, feeling very thirsty, he took the vessel in both hands and drank from it, like people. His favorite foods were: boiled rice, bread soaked in milk, bananas, oranges, sugar, etc. He loved bananas very much, but he also willingly ate insects, looked for spiders in the house and deftly caught right hand flies Like the Hindus who avoid eating meat for religious reasons, this gibbon also seemed to have an aversion to it."
In general, gibbons are rarely seen in captivity, even in their homeland. They cannot bear the loss of freedom, they passionately strive back to their forests, to the rapid movements of freedom, they become quieter and sadder and finally die.

Life of animals. - M.: State Publishing House of Geographical Literature. A. Brem. 1958.

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