Last of the gibbons

The world's gibbon population is facing the threat of extinction. Chen Liang finds out what is being done to preserve what's left of the population in China.

Western black-crested gibbon is more endangered than the giant panda, even though it is the country's most populous gibbon. With a global population of 1,100-1,400, it was listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation's Red List. The gibbon, Nomascus concolor, has a discontinuous distribution across southwestern China, northwestern Laos and northern Vietnam. Yunnan province has the biggest population, with nearly 80 percent of the primate species living in moist evergreen broadleaf forests on the Ailao Mountains and Wuliang Mountains.

Fortunately, their habitats on the mountain ranges are by and large unspoiled.