Pileated Gibbon Hylobates pileatus

Pileated Gibbon Hylobates pileatus

Endangered

Cambodia; Laos, Thailand

The Pileated Gibbon is listed as Endangered as they are suspected to have experienced a reduction of more than 50% over a time frame of three generations (45 years) in the past. Most populations are not yet secured in protected areas, and the main threats are habitat loss due to logging, agricultural conversion, hydroelectric development and new human settlements (W. Brockelman pers. Comm.)

IUCN Red List

Appearance and Behaviour

The Pileated Gibbon belongs to the genus Hylobates. The word Hylobates means ‘Forest Walker’ in Greek. The gibbons in this genus are known for the white circle of fur around their faces. They are known to communicate in species-specific song when defining territory or attracting mates. They sing in regional accents to each other, have long swinging arms, inquisitive natures and superior acrobatic skills, they spend most of their lives high up in the tree-tops. Researchers find the species somewhat shyer and more elusive than the Lar Gibbon (W. Brockelman pers. Comm.)

Mating and Reproduction

The Pileated Gibbons form strong monogomous bonds with their partners and children.

Habitat and Geographic Range

They live in moist, seasonal evergreen and mixed deciduous-evergreen forests and have been recorded living to about 1,500 m in Cambodia and to around 1,200 m in Thailand.

Diet

The Pileated Gibbon is similar to the Lar Gibbon in diet and general ecology and they eat mostly fruits, shoots, and some immature leaves, as well as insects (Srikosamatara 1980, 1984).

Threats

Hunting and habitat loss: This species is threatened by both hunting, primarily for subsistence, and severe habitat fragmentation and degradation (Duckworth et al. 1999, Traeholt et al. 2005).

In Thailand, all populations are now within protected conservation areas and the era of logging and slash-and-burn agriculture (Brockelman 1983) is now mostly over.

Deforestation even in ‘protected’ forests is a threat: Nevertheless, severe encroachment has occurred in eastern Khao Yai Park and other major protected areas, and subsistence hunting by minor forest product collectors is still uncontrolled (Phoonjampa and Brockelman 2008). In Cambodia, however, habitat destruction is a more immediate threat than poaching, especially in remote areas.

Most populations are not yet secured in protected areas, and the main threats are habitat loss due to logging, agricultural conversion, hydroelectric development and new human settlements (W. Brockelman pers. Comm.)

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Further Information

Brockelman, W, Geissmann, T., Timmins, T. & Traeholt, C. 2020. Hylobates pileatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T10552A17966665. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T10552A17966665.en. Downloaded on 08 February 2021.

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