The ‘Skywalker’ Gibbon Thought to be Nearly Extinct Has Significant Populations Uncovered in Myanmar

Also called the hoolock gibbon, this dainty vocalist was first described in 2017 living in the extreme south of China on a mountain in Yunnan. Classified as Endangered by the IUCN, the population was estimated to number a paltry 150 individuals, but others were believed to live in Myanmar.

Even before the recent military junta usurped the president and plunged the country into civil war, Myanmar was a difficult state to explore owing to the ongoing conflict between Yangon and several restive populations, in particular in the states called Shan and Kachin.

Now in open revolt against the military junta, these two states were nevertheless destinations for an intrepid team of scientists from the Nature Conservation Society Myanmar, Fauna & Flora International–Myanmar Programme, the IUCN’s ape specialist group, and field researchers from universities in England, China, and the US.