Recovery Plan

Since the loss of habitat due to the growing human population on Java is very difficult to slow or even stop, management and survival of the silvery gibbon requires working within the remaining forest pocket and in the parks. In cases of the unviable population, if protected wildlife corridors cannot be established, animals must be moved from one population to another by human intervention.

In zoos captive breeding programs can be instated. There are silvery gibbons in zoos outside of Indonesia that are in captive breeding programmes, but it is recomended that Indonesian zoos should also attempt to maintain the populations of silvery gibbons by breeding in captivity.

Wildlife officials have been urged to avoid inter-breeding the two different lineages of Silvery Gibbon to allow for natural evolution of these sub-species. This would maintain genetic fitness and diversity, allowing the two groups to remain distinct and to maintain their developed immunities and such.

United Nations Environment Programme: Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP)

1) Javan Gibbon Rescue and Rehabilitation Center: to build, staff and maintain a rehabilitaiton center for gibbons removed from illegal captivity as part of a long term recovery project.

2)Silvery Gibbon: a population and habitat viabilty assesment.

3)Silvery Gibbon Eco-Tourism proposal for Gunung Halimun National Park: to develop a sustainably managed system of ecotourism run by the local communities.

Perth Zoo

Having only one of the six captive breeding pairs, the Perth Zoo hopes to have two breeding pairs which could provide other Zoos with their own breeding pairs to begin their own breeding programmes.

Also based at the Perth Zoo is The Silvery Gibbon Project. This organization raises funds to help the conservation of the silvery gibbon in the wild.

The INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR GIBBON STUDIES is the only place in the United States that is currently breeding the Silvery gibbon.

HOWLETTS ZOO PARK also has breeding pairs of the gibbon. At the moment they have the largest population of gibbons and two young were recently born there.