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Agile gibbon sitting in a tree

Agile gibbon

Agile gibbons rarely come down from the treetops in the southeast Asian rainforests they inhabit. It's often easy to spot these gibbons as both sexes have striking white eyebrows that stand out against their dark fur, but it is only the males that have the characteristic white cheek pouches. Once mated, agile gibbons stay together for life and form a family group with their offspring. They sing in the early morning as a way of establishing and defending their territory.

Scientific name: Hylobates agilis

Rank: Species

Common names:

Black-handed gibbon

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Agile gibbon taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Agile gibbon can be found in a number of locations including: Asia. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Agile gibbon distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Rainforest Rainforest
Rainforests are the world's powerhouses, the most vital habitats on the planet. Characterised by high rainfall, they only cover 6% of the Earth across the tropical regions, but they contain more than half of its plant and animal species.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Endangered

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Population trend: Decreasing

Year assessed: 2008

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

The agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis), also known as the black-handed gibbon, is an Old World primate in the gibbon family. It is found in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra, Malaysia, and southern Thailand. The species is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat destruction and the pet trade.

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