E.T. Currently Resides At Twycross Zoo

By Kim Riley

Twycross, UK - If you look very close into the Gibbon enclosure at Twycross Zoo, you will see a tiny baby female pileated gibbon, resembling “ET”, held tightly in her mother’s arms.

Cheeky little Violet, who resembles “ET”, is a pale buff colour but at approximately eighteen months old she will develop a black cap on her head and a black chest. Males between the age of six and eight years old will gradually turn black all over but the females will stay the same colour.

At present Violet will be suckling from her mother until she is twelve months old when she will be weaned onto solids such as bananas, apples, grapes and primate pellets. Adults eat leaves, fruits, flowers, buds and also other invertebrates, bird eggs and small birds. They drink water by immersing their hands into puddles and pools or against wet leaves and then licking the water from their fur.

This is the second baby for mum “Valentina” who is caring for and feeding her baby whilst dad “Helmut” watches the public taking pictures of his offspring.

Pileated gibbons have slender bodies, long arms, and no tail. From head to toe their body length ranges between 440 and 635 mm. Male pileated gibbons are black with white hands and feet and females have blondish fur with a black cap and chest.

They are arboreal and diurnal and sleep and rest in trees of the forest canopy. Pileated gibbons are social, living in small family groups of 3 to 4 individuals. They move through the trees by swinging and leaping 10 metres or more with their long muscular arms.

Gibbons are highly territorial apes; family groups actively defend territories of about 25 hectares in the wild by display threats and vocalizations. These display calls can be heard in the Zoo at least twice a day. The calls often take the form of duets between the breeding male and female which help to maintain the bond between the breeding pair and establish and maintain the territory.

The population of all gibbons is declining due to the rapid destruction of their forest habitats. It is estimated that all species of gibbon will be at risk of extinction in the near future due to deforestation. There are currently less than 40,000 left in the wild where they live in the rainforest of Thailand and Cambodia.

They are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Primate Specialist Group. The endemic primates of Vietnam are considered the highest possible priority rating in the Action Plan for Asian Primate Conservation.

Twycross Zoo
Twycross Zoo East Midland Zoological Society is a registered charity (No 501841) and aims to “care for our world’s animals and environments through conservation, communication and integrity”

Twycross Zoo is the most comprehensive collection of primate species and subspecies in the western world. Twycross is a popular visitor attraction for families and school children welcoming over 500,000 visitors annually. Opening times for visitors are summer 10.00 am – 5.30 pm and winter 10.00 am - 4.00 pm; the Zoo is open 364 days a year only closing Christmas Day.

Twycross has informal and formal education programmes for all sectors of society about wildlife conservation. We incorporate our animals wherever possible into regional and global breeding programmes to aid species conservation. We have developed environmental enrichment programmes to give our animals a fulfilled life, both physically and mentally.

Twycross Zoo is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and Wildlife Information Network (WIN). These organisations represent their member collections and promote the values of good zoos and aquariums.