Though I’m not sure mom gibbon always appreciates her baby.

The good news is that the captive breeding program is working and baby Java gibbons are being born and cared for.

The only place I’ve ever seen a Javan Gibbon was at the Fort Wayne Children’s* Zoo. Javan Gibbons live in deep forest, so an enclosure that allows them to breed is very shady and difficult to photograph. Still, some of the photos turned out. Because of changing light conditions and rather uncooperative subjects, I had to revisit them several times to get the shots I did.

Due to where they live (Java) and what’s happening there (widespread forest destruction), we’re down 3,000 individuals in the wild, but they live in only 63 groups of what is called “fragmented habitat”. That means that not only are they small groups facing inbreeding threats, but each “fragment” is at higher risk of loss and, when it’s gone, so are the gibbons. Each group of gibbons has been assessed as “unsustainable”, so it is likely that the only real future of this animal is in zoos.

They will likely be extinct in the wild within my lifetime.

* Adults are allowed there as well.

This is what happens when you decide to evolve into a squirrel’s niche but don’t want to bother with changing your head.

Sometimes all of the joey doesn’t fit into the pouch.

When you’re anxious to escape the perceived restrictions of youth but you’re beginning to realize what adulthood might entail.

Despite the bad press, this dingo doesn’t really want to eat your baby.

Any baby will do.

Orangutan wondering if there’s any point in sharing photos anymore, with almost no one left on LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, and Flickr and with Twitter and Facebook increasingly hiding posts from people.