Species
Cao vit gibbon
High-speed swingers with haunting calls, cao vit gibbons are under threat from hunting and habitat loss in their shrinki...
Conservationists are celebrating an upswing in the fortunes of the critically endangered cao vit gibbon after a tiny infant was spotted during routine patrolling in the remote forests of Cao Bang, Vietnam.
It’s a little over a year since the latest population survey revealed the sobering news that cao vit gibbon numbers were far lower than had been widely assumed. The population had been overestimated in the past due to double-counting – an easy mistake to make given the difficult terrain and the mobility of the species. Thanks to sophisticated monitoring techniques that hadn’t been available before, the survey team was able to gain a far more accurate picture of the true situation.
How many cao vit gibbons are left?
While there was no suggestion that gibbon numbers had fallen in recent years, the knowledge that the actual population comprised as few as 74 individuals in just 11 family groups was still a hard pill to swallow.
Since that harsh reality check, the signs have been positive and this latest infant sighting is a further morale boost for the dedicated people working to save the cao vit gibbon, which is officially the world’s second rarest primate and was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery by Fauna & Flora staff in 2002.
Watch footage of the newly born cao vit gibbon baby and its mother captured on film.
We were very excited to spot another infant cao vit gibbon during our regular patrolling. This was the smallest baby gibbon I had ever seen and seeing it reminded me of my own children as babies being cared for by my wife. This is amazing and an encouraging sign of hope for the species’ population, which is currently very low, and highlights the critical importance of long-term ongoing monitoring and conservation efforts in Cao Bang.
Tho Duc Nguyen
Project Manager, Fauna & Flora Vietnam Programme
We were very excited to spot another infant cao vit gibbon during our regular patrolling. This was the smallest baby gibbon I had ever seen and seeing it reminded me of my own children as babies being cared for by my wife. This is amazing and an encouraging sign of hope for the species’ population, which is currently very low, and highlights the critical importance of long-term ongoing monitoring and conservation efforts in Cao Bang.
Tho Duc Nguyen
Project Manager, Fauna & Flora Vietnam Programme
What is Fauna & Flora doing to protect cao vit gibbons?
Fauna & Flora has been working to protect the cao vit gibbon for over 20 years, operating in two key protected areas to safeguard the species from poaching and habitat loss, and to conduct long-term monitoring and research. We work alongside local communities and rangers to implement conservation activity and provide sustainable livelihood support.
This is the second newborn recorded by the forest patrol teams since the gibbon’s population was recalibrated. This long-term monitoring is carried out by a community-based group that Fauna & Flora established in order to increase local participation in conservation. The most recent sighting – of a very young baby – occurred in November 2024. Every cao vit gibbon birth is another step on the ladder leading the species further away from the jaws of extinction.
With support from Arcus Foundation, Disney Conservation Fund, Twycross Zoo, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund and the UK government’s Darwin Initiative, among others, we hope to ensure a secure future for the latest arrivals and for future generations of these incomparable treetop acrobats.
A video still from a drone-mounted thermal camera, used to identify cao vit gibbons in tree canopy of their remote and almost inaccessible habitat. © Fauna & Flora
A video still from a drone-mounted thermal-imaging camera, used to pinpoint cao vit gibbons in the forest canopy of their remote and almost inaccessible habitat.
Against the odds
We’re working to bring some of the world’s most threatened primates back from the brink. Every new birth matters. Every second counts. Every donation makes a difference.
Please help save Vietnam's primatesCao vit gibbon. © Ryan Deboodt
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Fauna & Flora works with local partners in northern Vietnam to protect the critically endangered cao vit gibbon.