Western black-crested gibbon family welcomes newborn in Yunnan

A family of western black-crested gibbons in the Jingdong area of Yunnan province's Wuliang Mountain National Nature Reserve has recently welcomed a newborn.

The mother gibbon keeps the infant tightly in her arms while foraging, grooming, resting, and moving. Other members of the family group vigilantly guard the surroundings.

The arrival of the healthy newborn gibbon has expanded the group's number to nine members, establishing it as the largest family in the monitored area, according to Xiong Shiming, who monitors the group.

The western black-crested gibbon, a small ape native to Asia, is classified as a national first-class protected species in China and is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

With an estimated global population of around 1,500, over 600 of these gibbons are found on Wuliang Mountain, according to local authorities.