Brookfield Zoo is proudly presenting its newest primate addition—a baby white-cheeked gibbon.
Born on June 9, the tiny creature can be seen clinging to his mother’s fur in the zoo’s Tropic World exhibit, along with his small family.
The infant is the third male born to 25-year-old Indah in the last five years. He joins his father Benny and two older brothers Thani and Chong in the exhibit.
“Since his birth, the infant has been keeping a close grip on his mom,” the Chicago Zoological Society said. “He will stay in contact and be carried by Indah for a few more months. As he gets older, he will begin to explore the habitat on his own, become more independent, and play with his older brothers.”
White-cheeked gibbons are critically endangered in their native habitat of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Officials believe the species is extinct in China, as there have been no record of it living there since 1990.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the species’ population is believed to have declined by as much as 80 percent in the last 45 years. The dramatic decline of white-cheeked gibbons in the wild is attributed primarily to hunting and habitat loss, the Chicago Zoological Society reports.
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Indah and Benny have been together at the zoo since August 1995 and have are part of a Gibbon Species Survival Plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The newborn gibbon is one of 88 white-cheeked gibbons living in 27 North American zoos, officials said.
