Newborn rare gibbon spotted in Hainan national park

HAIKOU, April 13 (Xinhua) -- South China's Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park officially confirmed on Tuesday that a gibbon cub was born earlier this year.

The staff members of the park administration spotted the newborn gibbon on Jan. 24 during routine monitoring, and after two months of observation, it was confirmed that the gibbon population has increased to 36 in five families in the island province.

"The cub has been named 'Yuannan' and it is in good condition," said Qi Xuming, an official with the park administration, adding that the newborn cub has been able to separate from its mother at close range.

Hainan gibbon, the world's rarest primate, has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Numbering over 2,000 in the 1950s, the Hainan gibbons' population plunged to about seven in the 1980s, due to excessive hunting and lumbering which pushed them to the brink of extinction.

Hainan gibbons typically live in rainforest trees over 10 meters tall. They have long arms and legs but no tail, and rarely set foot on the ground, making captive breeding difficult.