Finding Skywalker gibbons with love songs: Study

Valentine’s Day is over but the call of love remains: Skywalker Gibbons’ mating songs, scientists reported this week, revealing a previously unknown population of the endangered primate — the world’s largest — in the jungles of Myanmar. What is it.

When Skywalker Holock Gibbon was first discovered by a group of Star Wars-loving scientists in 2017, its only confirmed population – less than 200 individuals – was in neighboring China’s Yunnan province.

But in a new study published in International Journal of Primatologyresearchers confirmed that Myanmar has the largest known population of Skywalker gibbons in a single location.

“This is an important discovery for the future of primate conservation in Myanmar,” Ngwe Luen, the expedition leader in Myanmar and country director of Fauna and Flora, said in a statement.

Gibbons do not swim, confining them to the tall trees of the forest canopy.

This means that wide rivers cutting through the forest can tell where species live.

Although no living Skywalker gibbons have been confirmed in Myanmar over the past century, a team of researchers from Myanmar, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany followed the idea based on geography that the primate lived in two Southeast Asian countries. Can be found between rivers.

Between December 2021 and March 2023, researchers set up acoustic monitoring systems in hopes of detecting Skywalker’s morning love songs and recording them to track his location.

Next, the team collected the half-eaten plants and fruits for genetic analysis.

When spotted, researchers took pictures of Skywalker holoc gibbons and compared them to other holoc species, noting that skywalkers have distinctly thinner eyebrows, black or brown beards rather than white, And the white rings on the face of women are incomplete.

After determining viable habitat, analysis of recordings and photographs, DNA sequencing and interviews Native wildlife And conservation organizations, the team had no doubts: Myanmar is home to 44 groups of Skywalker gibbons.

While the exact number of Skywalker gibbons at the new site is still unknown, a 2013 population estimate suggested that there could be as many as 65,000 gibbons in the area where the Skywalkers were identified.

However, the current number of individuals may be low due to threats to the primate.

Urgent need for protection

Only four percent of the suitable habitat for skywalker gibbons in Myanmar is found in protected areas.

Besides that Loss of accommodationOther threats to primates include land fragmentation and degradation, rapid deforestation, hunting for “bush meat”, and the ongoing exotic animal trade.

Over 95% Skywalker Gibbon Populations in Myanmar exist outside protected areas, and Population decline The trend is likely to continue and possibly accelerate, according to the study.

Given these threats, the researchers recommended to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that the species retain its “endangered” status despite the discovery of new populations.

Ngwe Lwin said, “Now more than ever, it is recognized that the collective efforts of stakeholders, including governments, communities and indigenous peoples’ groups, is the only effective way to protect and preserve our close living relatives. “

© 2024 AFP