Debrecen4U April 10, 2025

White-handed gibbon gets mate from Sweden

Edith was born on December 22, 2013 and is a very curious and direct gibbon girl. Her special feature is that she is a trained individual, so she has been actively cooperating with her new caretakers from the very first moment. This not only makes her daily care easier, but also helps her during the necessary veterinary examinations.  Edith has adapted quickly and is already feeling at home in her new environment. Their first meeting with Kópé, a 17-year-old gibbon male born in Debrecen, went so well that they were mated just two days after her arrival and have been very close ever since.

Zoo Debrecen has been supporting the survival of white-handed gibbons since 1995, for 30 years now, in the framework of the European Conservation Breeding Programme (EAZA EEP). This is when Kópé’s father Jerry arrived from Salzburg and in 1996 his mother Lenocska arrived from the Budapest Zoo. This year, Kópé’s brother Marci moved to the Safari de Peaugres Zoo in France. The arrival of the young female is particularly important for the institution, as companionship is a priority for gibbons.

White-faced gibbons are extremely close-knit families and choose a mate for life.

Since their home, the tropical rainforests of South Asia, is being rapidly destroyed, gibbons are currently the most threatened primate family.  

Most species are classified as either ‘endangered’ or ‘critically endangered’ on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

Zoo Debrecen hopes that this will also be an exciting time for visitors as they watch a new harmonious family of gibbons form with the arrival of Edith. Hopefully, many will visit and admire this unique and intelligent primate species, whose survival we can help by adopting them.

Source and photo credit:dehir.hu