Southern Yellow-cheeked Gibbon

The yellow-cheeked gibbon, like all species of gibbon, is remarkable for the length of its arms and hands in proportion to its body and legs. It lives in primary forests at low and medium altitude, moving with extraordinary agility from branch to branch in the canopy, and rarely coming to the ground. It is active during the day and feeds mainly on fruits and shoots. The yellow-cheeked gibbon is monogamous, forming a stable family group with a female and 2 or 3 offspring, and reigns over a territory of several square kilometres. One infant is born after a long gestation period of 7 months. Females nurse their young, but they are raised by both parents and often stay in the family group for 6 to 8 years before leaving to start their own family. At birth, the yellow-cheeked gibbon has a light yellow coat that turns black after a few months, but the cheeks remain yellow. However, the fur of females once again takes on a yellow hue when they reach sexual maturity and they have a small crest of black hairs, matching the fur of their future offspring.