Eastern Hoolock Gibbon

About this species

Diet

Fruit (about 65%, of which 60% figs), also lichens, invertebrates, bird eggs, buds, shoots, leaves, flowers

Habitat

Hill forest, including broadleaf-pine forest, up to about 2,700m in north-east Myanmar

Range

East of the Chindwin River in Myanmar and south-west Yunnan

The eastern hoolock gibbon is one of three hoolock gibbon species, found east of the Chindwin River in Myanmar and in south-west Yunnan, China. A study published in the International Journal of Primatology in 2021 confirmed that this species is not found in India, as had been thought. It is listed here because earlier Indian reports named it, and the hoolock gibbons that live in India's north-east should not be assumed to be this species (Wikipedia, general species account).

Elsewhere in its range it is an omnivore, with fruit about 65% of the diet and 60% of that figs. It also eats lichens, invertebrates, bird eggs, buds, shoots, leaves, flowers and insects. Groups sleep in neighbouring tall canopy trees on hilltops or slopes, and animals are more active in summer than in winter. This description concerns Myanmar populations and is not an India record (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)