Opening of new Silvery Gibbon exhibit at Perth Zoo

23/9/99

Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes today opened Perth's new Silvery Gibbon exhibit, marking the end of an era of keeping the critically endangered animals in small concrete cages.
The new exhibit features a thatched hut made from recycled timber which replaces the soon to be demolished concrete primate enclosures known as Gibbon Row.
Mrs Edwardes said that as well as being a valuable new attraction for visitors, the exhibit was an important development for the zoo's Asian Rainforest project.
The zoo's horticulture team had created an authentic South-East Asian rainforest environment to enable the Silvery Gibbons to swing gracefully through the trees, as they would in the wild.
Silvery Gibbons are native to the tropical rainforests of Java and are listed as critically endangered. It is estimated that there are only between 400 and 2,000 Silvery Gibbons in the wild.
Mrs Edwardes said that having lost around 98 per cent of their natural habitat, the pressures placed on their survival were extreme.
Perth Zoo has one of only four breeding pairs of Silvery Gibbons in captivity and has already produced four babies.
The zoo aims to secure another pair so it can breed male and female offspring from unrelated parents and send them to other zoos to establish breeding programs.
Mrs Edwardes said the Perth Zoo was playing a crucial role in the conservation of the Silvery Gibbon.
"The Silvery Gibbon program highlights many of the changes that the zoo has undergone in recent years," she said.
"It is no longer a place where you come just to be entertained. Captive breeding programs are vital to ensure the survival of species.
"Education is also a major part of the zoo and staff have developed new programs to help students better understand the threats that Silvery Gibbons face."
Mrs Edwardes said visitors to the zoo would learn the importance of protecting Silvery Gibbons from the threats that population pressure placed upon them.
Media contact: Carole Cowling 9421 7777