Vu Quang national park offers home for rare gibbon

The Vu Quang National Park in the central province of Ha Tinh announced on August 10 it received a rare white-cheeked gibbon from local forest rangers.

A white-cheeked gibbon
A white-cheeked gibbon

The 10-kg primate with a scientific name of Nomascus leucogenys Ogiby belongs to Group IB of rare wild animals restricted from being held in captivity, hunted and used for commercial purposes.

The park said that a family in Bac Hong commune, Hong Linh town, bought the animal from a resident in Huong Khe district. Realising that the gibbon is a protected animal, the family handed it over to the local forest rangers.

The park, which was recognised as an ASEAN Heritage Park in October 2019, is located in the northern side of the Truong Son Range at an average height of 800m, the slope of 25-35, with many rivers and streams.

It is home to many rare and precious species, including Cha va chan nau (Pygathrixnemaeus), Ha Tinh vooc (Ha Tinh langur), Vuon ma vang (Yellow-cheeked ribbon) and two rare and precious mammals of Sao La (Starfish Saola) and Manglon (Giant Muntjac).

The park covers a total area of 52,882ha, 96.7% of which are natural forests. As much as 61 % of the primitive forests here are subtropical evergreen forests and tropical evergreen forests with plentiful flora and fauna.