THE MORNING BIRD CHORUS WAS DROWNED OUT by the WHOOPs, WAs and WOWs of the gibbons—Southern Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbons to be exact. A couple of black males and a dirty-blonde female with a baby hang—literally—around the park HQ. Gibbons are born blonde and become black after weening but females turn blonde again around age seven.
Blonde female and black male Southern Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbons
Just a couple of guys hangin' out
Sweet Cheeks
Disregarding the Law of Gravity
We’ve see other gibbons use their long arms and long, strong fingers to swing from branch to branch farther afield in the park and sometimes we’ve noticed them with their yellow cheeks watching us watching them. But it is the female and her baby that are most interesting. Mom swings through the trees then hangs by one hand, seemingly unconcerned with the Law of Gravity or its consequences while her baby clings tightly.
Long-tailed Macaque
Black-shanked Douc with white tail
Got my eyes on you—Black-shanked Douc
Gibbons are not monkeys—they are Apes— tail-less like orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees . . . and us. We did see some of Cat Tien’s monkeys. Long-tailed Macaques and Black-shanked Doucs are Old World monkeys—you can tell by their tails.
Indian Giant Flying Squirrel
While out “owling” on Saturday night, Andre spotted a Pygmy Slow Loris. It is a tiny primate only about seven inches tall and is related to lemurs of Madagascar and bushbabies of Africa. No photo—I couldn’t even see it high in the tree! I did see AND photograph this Indian Giant Flying Squirrel whose wing-span is larger than my MacBook!
