Ramat Gan safari's rare siamang thrives

Week-old baby is the first born to parents Jan and Jumbo

A week after he entered the world at the Ramat Gan Safari, a new rare, black baby gibbon — a siamang — is said to be doing well, but to be a bit shy of the strong Israeli sun..

Tiny, hairless, and quite attached to his very protective mother (who continues to breastfeed him), he is said to be healthy.

He was born last week, weighing a mere 170 grams, to Mama Jan and Papa Jumbo, who were brought over from Europe last year in the hope of a fertile match. After spending a month in quarantine together last year, Jan and Jumbo began to mate in early spring.

Early pictures showed him clinging to his mother as she cared for him and fed him. Experts say baby gibbons stay very close to their mothers for about four months — during which time the moms carry them everywhere.

The wrinkly-skinned baby will be joining the safari’s ape family.

A grown siamang gibbon (photo credit: CC-BY-suneko, Wikimedia Commons)

Siamangs tend to develop hair as they grow up, and they are also famous for their development of a large gular sac (a throat pouch), that, when inflated, can reach the size of their heads

They have long limbs and are very strong, which makes them excellent tree-swingers and acrobats of the forest, with the ability to leap up to 10 meters between the trees. They can also grow to reach a height of 3 feet.

The siamang gibbon is found mainly in forested-parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. They are considered critically endangered as a consequence, in part, of hunting, deforestation, and even hunting monkeys. Their population around the world has fallen by approximately 50% over the past few decades.