The world’s rarest monkey, Hainan gibbons, are found only on a tropical island named Hainan off the southern coast of China. In 1970, the species had a population of less than ten. Conservationists have worked hard to save the Hainan gibbons, and now they see results, with a population of more than thirty.
Kadoorie Conservation China (KCC) is a department of Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden (KFBG) in Hong Kong, which was founded in 1998. The KCC conservation team has monitored the population of gibbons over the years to prevent poaching. They have also learned about them and expanded their habitat by planting over 80,000 native fruit trees, including different types of fig and wild lychee.
Philip Lo Yik-fui, senior conservation officer of KCC, said:
Even though the numbers are still small, you can see a future for this animal. They are really intelligent animals. When they look at you, it feels like they are trying to communicate.
When female gibbons mature, their fur turns deep gold, while adult males are pitch black. Like other species of gibbons around the world, the Hainan gibbon suffered from habitat loss, poaching for traditional medicine use, and the pet and tourism trade.
When the KCC conservation project began in 2003, the team searched for the species in a 16 sq kilometer patch of forest, high in the mountains of the Bawangling National Nature Reserve. They found thirteen Hainan gibbons living in two family groups, comprising two females, one male, and their offspring.
Years later, the team’s conservation efforts paid off, as the Hainan gibbon population showed stable, increasing numbers. As for the other 19 recognized gibbon species, their numbers are declining. Lo Yik-fui said that KCC’s goal is to raise the population to over 50, which would take them from “critically endangered” to “endangered” on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.
To help reach their goal, the team has recruited former local hunters, who are familiar with the forest, to monitor the gibbons. To top it off, the Forestry Department of Hainan province announced in January 2019, that it would establish the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park to protect the gibbons further.
