Gibbon Day is here!

It’s all about the gibbon today as DZG marks International Gibbon Day and the Year of the Gibbon.

And our beautiful lar gibbon family – dad Huggy, mum Meo, three-year-old daughter Penny and her little baby brother Indah (pictured above) – will be at the centre of the celebrations.

There will be an information stand at their enclosure to highlight the plight of endangered gibbons in the wild and at 1.30pm there’s a special talk on the species.

Another display in the Discovery Centre will also offer more details on the dangers they face in the wild.

The major threat to this species is hunting; they are hunted both for subsistence food use and for the pet trade. Ongoing localised forest loss due to shifting agriculture and commercial plantations of palm oil also poses a threat.

For younger visitors, there will be mask making, colouring sheets and chance to win a cuddly gibbon in a raffle.

Presenter Dorrie Hall said: “Today is all about raising awareness and hopefully money which will be sent to the Save the Gibbon Fund towards vital work protecting this endangered species in the wild.”

Our event supports the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s drive to help save the species. The organisation’s Primate Specialist Group’s Section on Small Apes (SSA) has urged zoos around the world to get involved today – International Gibbon Day. The SSA is pooling together all the money raised globally into a single fund and will decide at the end of the year which projects are given funding.