Gibbons due not swim and the islands at Wildlife Safari make safe, natural enclosures for these lesser apes.  In the wild and at Wildlife Safari, gibbons live in family groups and communicate to others through high-pitched songs which can be heard for several miles. Songs are specific to each family and convey information such as location, temper and social position.  

Families are very close and both parents participate in child-rearing. For the first three to four months of life, babies hang onto the mother's belly at all times. At seven months, youngsters become more independent and spend up to a third of the day playing with other family members. When offspring become mature at six or seven years, they find a mate and leave the family group. 

Gibbons have highly developed brains and the rangers at Wildlife Safari have devised numerous activities to keep them occupied. "Jungle gyms" or "monkey" bars with ropes and swings have been constructed to simulate the tree limbs of their natural environment. Food is hidden in various locations so that natural foraging will occur. In the Safari Village, gibbons can look for food placed in the puzzle feeder, sand box and hollow logs.  

Watch how the gibbons swing easily from bar to bar. The acrobats of the world, these creatures utilize hand-over-hand movements called brachiation to get them from place to place. While siamangs are completely black, white-handed gibbons can have blonde, black or brown fur.