Black-crested gibbon  (Nomascus concolor)

Deforestation has swept across South East Asia at an alarming rate as trees are logged for timber or to make way for agriculture and development. Gibbons throughout the region have undergone dramatic declines due principally to this habitat loss, but also as a result of hunting (4). The fragmentation of their habitat causes groups to become separated from the remaining population (2), and it is estimated that about 75 percent of the black crested gibbon’s original habitat has already been lost (9). The taxonomic confusion surrounding this species makes population estimates particularly difficult but at least two of the subspecies are today at critically low levels (1).

The black-crested gibbon is protected from international trade by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (3). Fauna and Flora International (FFI) have been studying the species in Northern Vietnam since 1999. They have also been involved in a community awareness programmes in the area and there is pressure to designate the last stronghold of the species (the Che Tao Forest) as a Gibbon Sanctuary (4). In China, the largest population of the Central Yunnan black crested gibbon subspecies occurs within the Wuliang Mountain National Reserve (4). It is vital that any remaining viable populations and habitats are protected or this previously successful ape is in grave danger of disappearing.