Take a closer look at skywalker gibbons in China's Yunnan on International Gibbon Day

Photo shows two skywalker gibbons atop a tree. (Photo/Ban Dingying)

The skywalker gibbon is the first gibbon species that was named by Chinese scientists. There are fewer than 150 skywalker gibbons in China, which is less than one tenth of the country’s total giant panda population.

The gibbon species is mainly distributed in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and several areas in Baoshan city, southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The skywalker gibbon was named by Chinese scientist Fan Pengfei and his research team in January 2017. The body length of an adult skywalker gibbon is about 60 to 90 centimeters, and its full arm span can be about twice as long.

Fruits make up more than half of the gibbon’s food sources. An adult male skywalker gibbon is black, while an adult female one is brown. Skywalker gibbons are monogamous and breed only once every four to five years.

The Tongbiguan Nature Reserve, located in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, is a major habitat for the skywalker gibbons in China.

According to a staff member from the nature reserve’s management and protection bureau, there are about 85 skywalker gibbons living in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, mostly in the northern part of Yingjiang county and forests in Tongbiguan Nature Reserve.

In recent years, relevant departments in Yunnan have made every effort to protect the skywalker gibbons, striving to promote harmony between mankind and nature.

The same staff member from Tongbiguan Nature Reserve’s management and protection bureau explained that since 2019, the bureau has established professional patrol and monitoring teams in major areas where the species lives, monitoring all skywalker gibbon families in the nature reserve in a continuous and dynamic manner.

From this year, the nature reserve will restore habitats for skywalker gibbons totaling 400 mu (about 26.67 hectares) and build three to five ecological corridors connecting their fragmented habitats in order to promote the gene flow between the population.

October 24 is International Gibbon Day. To mark the event, People’s Daily Online shows you photos of skywalker gibbons captured in recent years in Yunnan. Let's take a look.