English Teacher – Mr. Phillip Sanchez (English B Advanced)
Homeroom teachers – Ms. Lepry, Mr . Humphries
White-cheeked Gibbon
Nomascus leucogenys
Sun Woo Jeong – 6LH
5/4/2013
White-cheeked Gibbon. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web.
28 Mar 2013. http://quest.eb.com/images/139_1921823
<Introduction>
There are lots of primates that live in Viet Nam which are endangered.
One of the species is the Northern White-cheeked gibbon, often called
White-cheeked crested gibbon, which its scientific name is Nomascus
leucogenys. As it is shown in the primate’s name, it has white cheeks.
Also, the male has black fur, and the female has golden orange fur. They
do not have fur on their hands and the face, and their skins are black. In
estimation, the height of the gibbon is about 0.5m to 1m, and the weight
is about 5kg to 12kg. Their arms are about 80cm. According to the IUCN
Red list, it is listed as critically endangered. Also, in the Vietnam Red data
book, it is recorded as endangered.
<Observation of the primate>
In the wildlife, the White-cheeked Gibbons are strictly arboreal, which
means that they live upon the trees. They live in the lowlands in a
subtropical climate which is not very cold in the elevations of 200m to
600m. They are usually found in an evergreen forests, which mean that
the leaves are green all the seasons, and semi-evergreen forests. In
EPRC, they were in a cage with rods that resembles tree branches, so
they can swing around the cage, very like the wild, which they have to
travel around by swinging on branches. But the difference was that in a
cage, there are just limited amount of space that the gibbons can move around, so they are not as free
as the wild or the semi-wild. Also, in EPRC, there were no predators to attack the gibbons, since the
purpose of EPRC was to protect the endangered species of primates, so they won’t know how is it like to
be in the wild, avoiding predators and to be alive.
Northern White-Cheeked
Gibbon. Photography.
Encyclopædia Britannica Image
Quest. Web. 4 Apr 2013.
http://quest.eb.com/images/13
9_2018200
The White-cheeked Gibbons are very active, and their behaviors are interesting to examine. They swing
around the branch-like rods, which the action is called ‘brachiating’. The gibbons circles around in their
cages, brachiating for about 4 to 5 minutes until they stop to eat, or take some break. The gibbons are
frugivorous, which means that they eat fruits, but they also sometimes eat leaves, which the term is
called folivorous, as they were examined in the EPRC. They also eat insects, so they are omnivores.
While they were eating or taking a rest on the branches, they always keep one arm upon the rod and sit
on the one that is underneath.
<Status>
As it was mentioned in the first introduction
paragraph, the White-cheeked gibbons are critically
endangered, according to the IUCN Red List. They
live in Viet Nam and Lao PDR. In Viet Nam, they live
in the west and south of the Black river, and in Lao
PDR, they live in the east bank of the Mekong River.
Also, they used to live in China, just across the
border from Viet Nam, but there are no records of
the species in the region since 1990, their status is
now known as ‘extinct’ in China. Some of the
White-cheeked gibbons Range Map
IUCN Red List CC Image
species remain in captivity, such as the White-cheeked
gibbons that are in EPRC at Cuc Phuong National Park.
Their population trend is decreasing, facing extinction.
<Endangerment and Conservation>
The major threat to the White-cheeked gibbons is the deforestation, which the term means that logging
of trees in a large area or destruction of forests by humans. Also, the agricultural development in
forests that are logged and the gibbons’ use for food, medicine or petting are also threats of the species.
The threats to the primates are usually caused by humans, such as deforestation and mining, but
humans have some positive impact on the species, too. Now the people start protecting the gibbons and
ban people from illegal logging and the cause of habitat loss.
Now, there are lots of campaigns and conservation activities to prevent the extinction of the gibbon
species, such as the legal protection for the White-cheeked gibbons in Viet Nam. Also, in EPRC, they are
working to release the gibbons into the wild by making them adapted to the wildlife in the semi-wild
forest. For us, as humans, have to be well-educated about the peril that the primates are in, and the
people should create more conservation programs for the endangered primates. The people can go to
the conservation center and buy souvenirs which the money is raised for protect the primates. Also,
there should be lots of primatologists, who studies primates and protect them. But, there will be some
problems occurred by making more conservation programs, because the number of the primates that
are in captivity because of the studies of the primates will increase.
For the protection of the White-cheeked gibbons’ species, the government has to have strict rules
about the habitat loss of the gibbons. That includes banning of illegal logging, also industrial and
agricultural development in the forests and the protected areas for the endangered species. This idea
interacts with ‘ethical’, which is related to governmental laws and rules. By having strict rules about the
banning of deforestation, the gibbons will have more natural habitats to survive in the wild, and the
number of the groups of species will increase. That leads to the increase of the population and the
decrease of the probability of extinction of the White-cheeked gibbons.
<Conclusion>
In conclusion, protection and conservation of the primates are very important. The reason is that if one
of the species in the world gets extinct, the food chain and the food web of the nature will be destroyed,
and the other species will reach extinction, too. For example, if the White-cheeked gibbons die out from
the nature, the food for the species that eats the gibbons will decrease, so they will eat other animals.
Eventually, the animals will disappear as the time flows, and there will be only few species left in the
world. But, someday they will be all extinct from the world. It is same as a chain. If the gibbon species
stands for one chain, and if one of the chains breaks, the whole chain will be destroyed. The ecosystem
is the same as the chain, so it is very important for people to protect the endangered White-cheeked
gibbon species.
<Works Cited>
Bleisch, B., T. Geissmann, N. Manh Ha, B. Rawson, and R. J. Timmins. "Nomascus
leucogenys." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. © International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. 29 Mar. 2013
<http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39895/0>.
Rakowski, Sarah. "Extinction looms for gibbons in Vietnam, scientists say." Fauna & Flora
International. 21 May 2012. ©2013 Fauna & Flora International. 02 Apr. 2013
<http://www.fauna-flora.org/news/extinction-looms-for-gibbons-in-vietnam-scientists-say/>.
Rawson, Ben. "Gibbon Discovery Gives Hope for Survival of Species | Human Nature Conservation International Blog." Human Nature Conservation International Blog. 2013. © 2013
Conservation International. 29 Mar. 2013 <http://blog.conservation.org/2011/07/gibbondiscovery-gives-hope-for-survival-of-species/>.