A population study of the western black crested gibbon was launched in Jingdong Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, SW China on November 12. To study the endangered primate, researchers arrive the forest every morning before the sunrise. After 7 a.m., the calls of the gibbons can be heard from afar.

Fan Pengfei, professor of the School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University said, "By recording their calls, we can analyze how many groups are in the region, and how many males and females are in a group, and if they have young babies."

The western black crested gibbons live in families, and each family is formed by a male and one or two females. Their calls in the morning are part of their natural routine. As each family has different calls and singing patterns, finding a suitable site to monitor their sounds is important in this research.

The number of western black crested gibbons is less than wild pandas, and they are also under first-class protection in China. Most of them live on the Wuliang Mountain and Ailao Mountain in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

(Cover image via VCG)

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