If you make a trip to the Houston Zoo this summer, then you’ll want to stop and take a look at a new primate. Ting and Max recently gave birth to the zoo’s first ever northern white-cheeked gibbon, Marv.
White-cheeked gibbons hail from Laos, Vietnam and southern China and usually live in tropical rainforests and monsoon forests. These primates enjoy eating ripe fruits, leaves, and small amounts of invertebrates. The number of white-cheeked gibbons has declined by 80% over the last 45 years because of habitat loss and poaching.
These interesting creatures change fur colors as they get older. They start off with a cream color, but then their fur changes to a black color at two years old. They also develop white cheek patches. Males keep their black color, but females will eventually revert back to their original cream. These animals also have the longest arm length compared to any other primates.
You can visit Marv at the Wortham World of Primates, next to the De Brazza’s monkeys.
