Wildlife Park announces birth of rare gibbon

Thu, 28 Sep 2023

An extremely rare silvery gibbon has been born at the Curraghs Wildlife Park as part of an important European breeding programme.

Parents, Slamet and Nakula arrived at the Park in 2016 and in that time have had two other babies named Aalin and FFinlo.

The sex of the newborn is yet to be determined to allow Slamet time to bond with her presently unnamed baby.

The parents previously gave birth to Aalin in July 2020 and Ffinlo in August 2017, with the latest birth the Curraghs Wildlife Park now holds five individuals.

Silvery gibbons are classed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with as few as 2,000 adults left in the wild, where they are endemic to the Indonesian island of Java.

General Manager Kathleen Graham said: “It’s great to see the family expand and to be able to be privileged enough to see the family dynamics change as they mature.

“There are just 52 silvery gibbons in the care of nine European zoos, so the birth is very significant. We know how vital EAZA programmes are for conservation efforts and we are very proud to play our part.”

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