"Star Wars Gibbon"

Star Wars gibbon living in the tropical forests of south west China is a new species of primate.

11:01 12 January 2017

Researchers have confirmed that a gibbon living in the tropical forests of south west China is different from all other gibbons. The new species of primate has been named Skywalker hoolock gibbon because the scientists are fans of Star Wars.

 

Dr Sam Turvey, from the Zoological Society of London, who was part of the team studying the apes, told BBC News: "In this area, so many species have declined or gone extinct because of habitat loss, hunting and general human overpopulation.

 

"So it's an absolute privilege to see something as special and as rare as a gibbon in a canopy in a Chinese rainforest, and especially when it turns out that the gibbons are actually a new species previously unrecognised by science."

 

Hoolock gibbons are found in Myanmar, China, India and Bangladesh. They rarely spend time on the ground and live in treetops, swinging through the forests with their forelimbs.

 

Dr Turvey said the team had been studying the animals in the Gaoligongshan nature reserve, but it was not easy.

 

"It's difficult to get into the reserve. You have to hike up to above 2,500m to find the gibbons. That's where the good quality forest usually starts - everywhere below there has been logged.

 

"Then you have to wake up really early in the morning and you listen out for the haunting song of the gibbons, which carries in the forest canopy.

 

"And when you hear it, you rush through the mud and the mist, and run for hundreds of metres to try and catch up with these gibbons."