A British zoo is celebrating the birth of an extremely rare baby gibbon.
Paignton Zoo in Devon saw the birth of the rare primate last month but there were fears the baby would not survive following a premature birth.
But now the zoo have said they are pleased the pileated gibbon – classed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature – is alive and well.
Curator of mammals at the zoo, Neil Bemment, said: “This is Paignton Zoo’s first surviving pileated gibbon baby – I’m really pleased, as we have been trying to breed this species for 15 years, but alas our previous female was not a good mother.”
The baby was born on September 19 several weeks prematurely.
Pileated gibbons are primates in the gibbon family.
The species shows sexual dimorphism, with males having black fur and females having pale fur with darker head and belly.
The pileated gibbon is found in parts of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
Like other gibbons, the species is active during the day and lives in trees.
They form monogamous pairs, swing through the trees on their long arms and eat mainly fruit, leaves and small animals.
