{"id":234030,"date":"2025-10-23T03:20:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/234030\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T03:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:20:15","slug":"white-cheeked-gibbons-quickly-learn-the-ropes-in-new-habitat-at-perth-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/234030\/","title":{"rendered":"White-cheeked gibbons quickly learn the ropes in new habitat at Perth Zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perth Zoo\u2019s resident white-cheeked gibbons took no time at all to learn the ropes of their new habitat \u2014 so much so that zoo keepers have had to increase their food intake to fuel their active lifestyles.<\/p>\n

The family of three \u2014 Kayak, Jermei and Lulani \u2014 have been making good use of their new digs since it opened almost four months ago.<\/p>\n

Gibbons are an arboreal species, meaning they live in the tree canopy and are used to swinging between trees at great heights.<\/p>\n

And the gibbon crossing has metres and metres of thick rope for the primates to swing, hang, twist and flip over water and between islands in their open-air enclosure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all these amazing, really long ropes which encourages them to brachiate, so that\u2019s that full swing that you\u2019ll see them do,\u201d senior primate keeper Nene Haggar said.<\/p>\n

\"White-cheekedCamera IconWhite-cheeked gibbons Lulani, Jermei and Kayak at Perth Zoo. Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

All the overhead rope pathways at the gibbons\u2019 disposal stretch out to 170m, about the length of the footy oval at Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve also never really had that opportunity in previous enclosures. So when they first moved out here, they were really awkward at doing it,\u201d Ms Haggar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJermei was really robotic . . . but she just got the hang of it so quickly, which was so nice to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe family of gibbons are now fearless acrobats on the ropes. Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

While it might have taken some practise, the family of gibbons are now fearless acrobats on the ropes, swinging at ease with the occasional cheeky tightrope walk for the fans down below.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve even gained more muscle tone, and keepers have had to increase the food in their diet as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really incredible to watch their change in behaviour . . . when you design something that\u2019s so species appropriate, it gives them that arboreal opportunity,\u201d Ms Haggar said.<\/p>\n

\"WhiteCamera IconWhite Cheek Gibbon Jermei at Perth Zoo. Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Not only was it important to give the little apes plenty of room to brachiate, the actual pathways serve a purpose too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amazing part about this rope is it actually goes over the visitor viewing area,\u201d Ms Haggar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching everyone\u2019s reaction when the gibbons are on top . . . it\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get to see that emotional connection with the visitors because they\u2019re so excited that a gibbon is swinging over their head.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new habitat has also brought out young Lulani\u2019s adventurous streak, Ms Haggar said, pointing to a rope angling down at one of the enclosure\u2019s highest points.<\/p>\n

\"SeniorCamera IconSenior Primate Keeper Nene Haggar with white-cheeked gibbons Jermei (blonde) and Lulani. Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just zip lines down it. She hooks her arm over, and she zip lines down and she goes flying. She\u2019s so fast, and she\u2019s so speedy and she uses her other little hand as a brake,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never seen other gibbons do that kind of behaviour before, and Lulani just does it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Haggar hopes that bringing these \u201cforgotten apes\u201d a little closer to the public will foster more connection to their plight and, in turn, more funding for conservation efforts across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perth Zoo\u2019s resident white-cheeked gibbons took no time at all to learn the ropes of their new habitat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1313,64,63,44,128,45,338],"class_list":["post-234030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-science","tag-wa-news","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}