Brief History
According to the taxonomy classification,
Hominoids altogether include eight genus and twenty different species. All the
animals that currently exist of the Hominoids belong to the ape super family.
Aside from Homo genus, the population distribution of this family is limited to
Africa and South East Asia rainforests only. The gibbons represent a branch
from this family.
During early classification, gibbons and small apes were regarded as very
simple and easy to explain. Not long after, many researchers published
discussion papers one after another related to this topic, but the relationship
system between the different types of gibbons was still not clearly explained.
Because of this, recent gibbon research studies improved our understanding of
this species. Wildlife researchers that studied large number of gibbons in the
wild contributed information about the societal structure and ecology. The
discovery of a couple of wild gibbons cross-breeding give rise to interesting
questions regarding the scientific nature of gibbon classification.
In 1976, Marshall published a paper in Science magazine regarding the songs of
gibbons. The paper described how the different songs of the gibbons indicate
the important role it plays in gibbon classification. This paper influenced
many of the later projects by researchers studying gibbon songs, and of these
studies, some proved to be valuable to the classification of gibbons.
(http://www.gibbons.de)
Present Situation
Gibbons are endemic species of Asia, and
the principal population distribution region is Southeast Asia. Presently,
their distribution area has a western border of eastern India, northeast border
of southwest Mainland China and the South Pacific Islands, and a southern
border of Indonesia.
Currently there are approximately twelve species of gibbons, each with
noticeable differences in quantity of existing animals and distribution region.
In CITES, gibbons are listed as CITES I.
Problems Encountered
The gibbon belongs to the same ape family
as the orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee and the bonobo. The latter four are
divided to the Great Apes category, with gibbon as the only one in the Small
Apes category. Compared to the Great Apes, the amount of attention placed on
the gibbons is minimal. In the past, reporters and researchers had helped us
better understand the predicaments confronted by the Great Apes, but the
gibbons became the "forgotten species."
Take for example, the most endangered of the Great Ape species, Pongo
abelii, has approximately a little over 10,000 existing animals left. But
for the gibbons, at least three species (e.g. Nomascus concolor, N.
sp.cf.nasutus, Hylobates mooloch) in the wild have less than 3000
existing animals of each species left. While the great apes have previously
received strong support from research and conservation activities, the gibbons
had been put second to the great apes by reporters, researchers, foundations
and conservation groups and been neglected.
Continuing giving priority to the Great Apes is not only unfair, but recent
researches have shown how the plight of gibbons in the wild has been raised to
a critical level.(Geissmann, T. 2002)
With Taiwan geographic location positioned very close to Southeast Asia and
that early on Taiwan had an animal trafficking history, this resulted in the
large quantity of gibbons now existing in Taiwan. With respect to these
"forgotten species," how well do we actually understand them?
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