Silvery Gibbon

• Common Names: Moloch Gibbon, Javan Gibbon
• Taxonomy Classification Year: 1798
• Monkey Size: 44 to 64 cm (17 to 24 in)
• Skin Color(s): Bluish-grey
• Habitat: Rainforest
• Diet: Herbivorous
• Native Countries: Indonesia

The silvery gibbon^[1] (Hylobates moloch), also called the Javan gibbon, is a primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae.

• It is native to the Indonesian island of Java, where it inhabits pristine rainforests up to 2, 450 meters (8, 040 feet).
• The majestic gibbon has long, thick silvery fur with black markings on its chest and head.
• Its slender black face is framed by white hair on its chin and eyebrows and gray hair on the sides of its face down to its ears, forming an almost triangular shape.
• Its nose is flat, and its soft brown eyes are set in round sockets. Its arms are long and robust. Its legs are equally strong but shorter than its arms.
• Its shoulders and wrists are very flexible (as if they have a ball joint); its hands and feet have five digits, with a very deep cleft between the toe/thumb and the second digits.
• These physical characteristics make the species perfectly adapted to brachiation and arboreal life. They have no tail.

• Silvery gibbons are tree dwellers and feel just as comfortable in the upper canopy as in the undergrowth. Consequently, they rarely descend to the forest floor.
• They can move up to 56 km/h (35 miles/hour) and jump up to 15 m (50 ft).
• Their home range varies widely depending on their habitat suitability and the level of human activity in the area.
• Two males or one male and one female species work as a team to defend a territory.
• Unlike most other primates, silvery gibbons don’t stop feeding in the middle of the day when temperatures are high; instead, they migrate to lower, cooler levels of the forest.