My name is Siam and I am a white-handed gibbon. I moved to Monkeyland from France a few years ago and I am very happy here. The only sad thing about my life is that I lost my handsome and kind partner and best friend, Atlas, two years ago to limp cancer. Cancer is not for sissies.
I love to live in trees and like to stay high up in the canopy of trees. Thankfully Monkeyland is a forest, so I really love my home. My arms are very long and this allows me to swing effortlessly among the tree branches at the sanctuary.
When I swing through the forest canopy I can change direction in a split second. I am among the fastest of all primates.
I am so fast that I barely touch a branch before swinging off and grabbing the next branch, I can “fly” up 40 feet through the air and leap long distances before landing. Did you know that apes and lesser apes have no tails? I am a lesser ape, all gibbon species are lesser apes. Despite having no tail, I have an acute sense of balance.
I am so glad that I live at Monkeyland because my wild cousins have a glim future. Rapid loss of habitat is the main threat to my wild gibbon friends, this puts their future in great danger. The forests in Southeast Asia are being logged and cleared for agriculture at a very rapid pace, reducing the area where my wild gibbon friends can live.
Many times they even are hunted for their meat and in some countries, like Thailand in particular, the capture of juvenile gibbons to be sold as pet trade is sadly widespread. Gibbons, like me, communicate through term songs, combinations of duets and/or solos performed by bonded pairs. Our duets take place between sunrise and noon, with a peak at mid-morning. Calls, or what we prefer to call it songs, last an average of 11 minutes and are audible for up to one kilometre. I don’t sing anymore because I miss my man so much. Perhaps you can help me find a new partner? I am sure that some handsome male whitehanded gibbon out there will love my happy home and I am hoping that we can make songs together.
All a girl can do is dream
SAASA – South African Animal Sanctuary Alliance, strives to improve the lives of caged primates, birds and other wildlife. The Square Meter for Monkeys Campaign is only the FIRST real Real Estate deal between humans and animals. Making history one square at a time
Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa is the worlds first free roaming multi-specie primate sanctuary and aims to create awareness about the plight of primates and foster a greater understanding of our primate cousins.
