Today we went on a field trip to The Gibbon Conservation Center in Santa Clarita, about half an hour north from our house. This center houses the rarest group of apes in the Western Hemisphere and has successfully reproduced 7 gibbon species (out of 17 that exist).
One species of gibbon has only 20 animals left in the wild and will soon become extinct. This species is too small to be taken into captivity and bred because the genetics are not diverse enough to continue the blood line in a healthy way.
The goal of the Gibbon Conservation Center is to work with other centers throughout the world to help gibbons reproduce and to treat them in a way that would allow them to thrive if ever put back into the wild again.
Corporations that are clearing forests around the world are destroying gibbon's natural habitats and are largely responsible (if not completely) for them becoming endangered.
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| The center's oldest gibbon at 40 years |
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| This mama had her baby 2 weeks ago |
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| She would swing all over the enclosure with her baby hanging onto her belly. |
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