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Gibbon Guardians
ALL ABOUT GIBBONS
Small apes. Big voices. Deep roots in our mission.
Echoes in the Treetops
Gibbons swing through Southeast Asia’s treetops with astonishing speed, sing duets that echo through the forest, and form strong, lifelong family bonds.
They are intelligent, expressive, and deeply social apes — but most people don’t even know they exist.
The reality is: Gibbons are not just under-protected. They’re nearly invisible. And in the conservation world, invisibility is dangerous.
It’s time to change that.
Why Gibbons Matter
Gibbons aren’t just fascinating — they’re essential.
As paramount ecosystem engineers, gibbons help rainforests thrive:
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Their tree-swinging movement disperses seeds over vast areas
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Their feeding patterns shape forest structure and biodiversity
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Their presence is a sign of forest health and resilience
When we protect gibbons, we protect entire ecosystems.
That’s why they’re central to our Southeast Asia biodiversity hotspot — and why they remain at the heart of our conservation story.
All About Gibbons
From sky-high songs to gravity-defying movement, gibbons are packed with surprises.
Explore the tiles below, by hovering over the images, to discover what makes them so unique — and so easy to love.
20 Species, 4 Genera.
Hylobates
The most widespread gibbons, known for their iconic whooping calls and diversity.
They include more species than any other gibbon genus.
Nomascus
Native to southern China, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia,
These gibbons undergo dramatic fur changes as they mature, revealing age and sex.
Hoolock
Found in the forests of India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar — and are the only gibbon genus found west of the Mekong River.
They have bold white brows and facial hair.
Symphalangus
Found in the Malaysian Peninsula and Sumatra, the siamang is the only species in this genus.
It’s the largest gibbon, with a throat sac that amplifies their songs.
Where in the Wild?
Gibbon Location & Habitat
Gibbons live in primary forests throughout South East Asia from Southern China to Indonesia.
Typically they live in tropical dry deciduous and moist evergreen forests, but they can also live in lowland and montane forests.
Along the southern border of China, some gibbons even live in tropical broad- leaf evergreen forests where there is brief seasonal snowfall.
But remember!
Even though the map appears to show large continuous zones, in reality forest cover in SE Asia is sporadic and restricted to isolated patches, leaving gibbons with only small fragments of forest to live in.
All in a Day’s Swing:
Gibbon Activity Patterns
Gibbons are active apes who spend the majority of their time high in the treetops searching for food, playing with young or resting to groom with family members.
They rarely come to the ground and love to sun themselves in the tallest trees that emerge high above the tree canopy.
Unlike other apes, gibbons do not build nests to sleep in each night, instead they settle down to sleep seated on tree branches high in the canopy of the forest.
What's on the Menu?
Gibbon Diets
All gibbons are frugivorous primates, which means they prefer to eat ripe fruit (such as figs pictured here).
Gibbons will often supplement their fruit diets with leaves and occasionally eat invertebrates such as termites and arachnids.
Smaller and lighter than all other apes, gibbons move easily on thin flexible branches. Their long arms, help them reach fruits and young leaves that grow on the tips of tree branches in the forest canopy.
Swing, Leap, Glide:
Gibbon Locomotion
Like other apes, gibbons are brachiators and use two-handed suspension to swing through treetops. However, gibbons are extremely specialized branch swingers, and have a unique technique called "richochetal brachiation".
Gibbons have unique muscle and bone structures that allow them to swing at substantial speeds with impressive maneuverability. Their skills are so powerful that a gibbon can propel forward and upwards in free flight between branches with grace and ease.
Gibbons are so comfortable high up in the trees, that they will even walk upright on two feet like humans along thick branches as they travel, raising their hands up over their heads and out to the sides for added balance.
Family Ties:
How Gibbons Get Along
Gibbons tend to live in monogamous social pairs, with 1 adult male, 1 adult female and their multiple offspring.
Occasionally other family members (fathers-sons, older offspring, and brothers) may stick together with the family too.
Most often, group members travel together as they forage throughout the day. From time to time, adults may split up for a while, but never they go so far that they are out of sight from each other.
But gibbons don’t always mate for life. Some couples do. While others may remain together for years, then suddenly break up. Still other individuals switch partners many times throughout their lives.
Care & Connection:
How Gibbons Get Along
During resting periods, gibbons will engage in grooming activities wherein individuals will alternate every few minutes between presenting to be groomed and grooming the other in return.
Young group members will often play wrestle and chase each other around the treetops nearby while their parents groom.
Many times adults will join in, play wrestling with the young, or simply holding onto a dangling hand or foot of the youngster, who will in turn squeal with joyous play calls and try to wiggle out of their parent's grip.
Gibbon Gabbin':
Vocal Communication
Vocalizations by gibbons are referred to as songs and gibbons sing in coordinated patterned sequences called duets.
Though females rarely sing alone, males will also sing solo songs at the break of dawn each morning.
Gibbon songs are species-specific, meaning each species has a distinctive sound or sequence of notes in their songs.
Songs are also sex-specific because males and female each have distinctive parts in their song patterns.
Like humans, their voices can be quite unique and it is possible, even for humans, to distinguish the identity of individuals based on their singing style.
What They’re Facing:
They’re not extinct. Not yet.
But without action, invisibility becomes disappearance.
Logging, agriculture, and development continue to wipe out their forest homes.
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Gibbons are hunted, trafficked, and sold as pets, torn from their families as infants.
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While orang-utans receive global attention, gibbons are left out of the conversations.
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Fewer resources.
Fewer programs.
Fewer people fighting for their future.
This is Why
Our Community Matters
We know the small apes can no longer be ignored.
Gibbon Guardians is where we return to our roots and walk the talk; supporting the sanctuaries that care for gibbons, rebuilding the forests they depend on, and raising global awareness about their role in the world.
This work takes time — real time.
It can take 20 years or more to grow a forest that’s ready to hold a gibbon family.
But Gibbon Guardians are committed for the long haul.
We won’t give up on them — or on their future in the wild.
Ready to Follow Your Heart into Action?
This is where soul meets strategy. Give what you can. Bring who you love.
Every step you take helps restore balance — for the gibbons, for the forests, for us all.