Vertebrate white-cheeked gibbon
Nomascus leucogenys
White-cheeked gibbons, belonging to the vertebrate, mammalian, primates, gibbon family. A national first-class protected animal, inhabiting tropical rainforests and subtropical monsoon forests, china was once mainly distributed in Xishuangbanna, and it is difficult to see in the wild. Photo taken at Sun River National Forest Park.
The white-cheeked gibbon male ape is a bit cool, the whole body is pitch black, and the only "big beard" is white, which adds a bit of vicissitudes. Female apes are yellowish brown throughout, and the top of the head is brownish-black. White-cheeked gibbons are smaller, usually 50–60 cm long and weigh about 6 kg in adulthood.
They are active in foraging during the day, and eat a variety of tropical wild fruits, young leaves, flower buds, tree buds, etc. as their main food, as well as insects and birds. They practice "monogamy", have a gentle personality, and rarely fight. In the evening, I choose to rest at the top of the trees I like.
In China, only a few places in southern Yunnan have recorded the whereabouts of white-cheeked gibbons, of which Mengla in Xishuangbanna is the former home of white-cheeked gibbons. According to records, in the 1960s, there were 500 or 600 white-cheeked gibbons in Mengla County, and the short cries of apes could be heard every morning in the city.
Unfortunately, since the 1970s, the population of white-cheeked gibbons has been declining, and it is difficult to see wild populations today. The cry of the ape, which used to resound often through Mengla, has become a memory.
The white-cheeked gibbon in the photo, named Yuanyuan, was rescued to the Sun River National Forest Park in 2018, "when he was still in infancy and still nursing." Ah Fu, who works as a forest experience teacher in the park, has witnessed the growth of fate.
"Unless it's injured, we hardly interfere with it." Afu said that Fate and several other rescued white-cheeked gibbons still maintained their wild nature, "They all call in the morning, and they don't bark in the afternoon, unless it rains on a change of day." Ah Fu said that the white-cheeked gibbon is like a weather forecast of activity, as long as the weather changes, it will grow, "that kind of crying, there is a sense of pity." ”
Territorial consciousness is deeply engraved in their genes. "The range of the margin is almost 5 square kilometers, and the other elderly white-cheeked gibbon has an area of 10 square kilometers." Afu said that several white-cheeked gibbons often compete for territory between each other, and even get injured in the process of fighting with each other.
Although the park has tried to intervene with as little as possible with the white-cheeked gibbons, some of the wildness in them has disappeared, "the most obvious thing is that the wild white-cheeked gibbons are very vigilant and will not approach humans, but they will come to communicate with people, ask for food and water, imitate human behavior, and will look in the mirror." ”
Gibbons are the flagship species in the forest, a sign of forest health, and together with the orangutan family, they form apes and are the closest primates related to humans. The current situation of the world's 19 species of gibbons is very worrying, and on the IUCN's Red List, 13 species are listed as endangered and 4 are listed as critically endangered.
In 2002, China Post issued a set of Gibbon stamps to call for the protection of gibbons, and the white-cheeked gibbon was among them. One day, people hope that one day they will be able to return to the forest, and that they will still hear the crisp cry of the ape.
Zihan, a member of pu'er Writers Association, has published his works in magazines and periodicals such as Global Human Geography and Yunnan Pictorial, as well as media such as Xinhua Net and People's Network; he loves photography and records humanistic customs with lenses.
Planning coordinator Zhao Juan Lian Huiling
Text collation Lian Huiling
Poster designed by Zheng Biyin