Gibbons chow down on flowers in Mt. Ailao

Forest rangers with the Ailao and Wuliang nature reserves saw western black crested gibbons chowing down on flower buds and fruits in the trees in Jingdong Yi autonomous county, southwest Yunnan’s Pu’er city.

In the early spring, flowers such as azalea, camellia and more started blooming all over the mountains of Ailao and Wuliang, making the area a gourmet paradise for gibbon “foodies”.

The black gibbons feed on fruits, flowers and leaves, as well as insects and bird eggs occasionally. They favor flower buds in spring because the petals are rich in nectar.

The gibbon is under the first-class state protection in China and listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The data in 2021 say 104 groups of gibbons inhabit Mt. Wuliang, among which 90 groups live in Jingdong with a rising population.

Reporting by Zhou Yuezhong (Jingdong Digital Center); Trans-editing by Mo Yingyi