The Agile Gibbon (Hylobates agilis) is an arboreal primate mammal in the Gibbon family. It is also known as the Black-Handed Gibbon. It is not a monkey because it does not have a tail.
The Agile Gibbon ranges in colour from red-brown to black. It has a white brow. The male has white or light-grey cheeks. It has very long arms, which enable it to swing from branch to branch very quickly.
It grows up to 44-63 centimetres (17-25 inches) tall. The male is slightly larger than the female.
It is native to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, as well as Malaysia and southern Thailand. There are two sub-species of the Agile Gibbon: the Mountain Agile Gibbon (Hylobates agilis agilis) and the Lowland Agile Gibbon (Hylobates agilis unko).
It is arboreal, living in trees. It prefers rain forests with tall trees. It rarely comes to the ground.
The Agile Gibbon is a frugivore, eating mainly fruit. It sometimes eats leaves, flowers, and insects.
The Agile Gibbon forms a monogamous pair for life. The female gives birth to one live young, after a pregnancy of 210 days. The baby Agile Gibbon is independent after two years, and fully mature at eight years of age. When it is mature, it leaves its family group.
[Location of photographs: Tashkent Zoo, Uzbekistan]
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM