In the Southeast Asia part of Monkey Pavilion you will see our white-cheeked gibbon Tanh-Linh. Tanh-Linh is one of our best acrobats and has some amazing behaviors to show you. Tanh-Linh is 21 years old and was born at the Oregon Zoo. He came to CMZ when he was five years old to be friends with our female white-cheeked gibbon, Debbie. They are a perfect pair and are best friends. However, Debbie is dominate over Tanh-Linh and he will not do any of his behaviors if she is in the enclosure. We separate them for the show and reunite them shortly there after.
You can tell Tanh-Linh and Debbie apart because they are two different colors. Tanh-Linh is the black one with fluffy white cheeks and Debbie is the white one with a small patch of black on the top of her head. Scientists believe that the color difference in this species is to help them decipher who is male and who is female when they are looking for mates. White-cheeked gibbons form monogamous pairs and will usually spend their whole lives with one mate. Their offspring will live with them until they reach maturity and leave the natal group. When white-cheeked gibbon babies are born they will be white like the female for the first year or so. When they are around two years old all the babies will turn black. Finally, once the females reach maturity around 5 or 6 years, they will turn back to white. Tanh-Linh and Debbie have one surviving offspring named Tangra. This summer we sent her to a zoo in Texas to find a mate of her own.
Tanh-Linh and Debbie are a great pair to watch and can be seen either in one of our outdoor enclosures or in their home exhibit inside Monkey Pavilion. They will amaze you with their swinging and leaping abilities. So be sure to catch Tanh-Linh center stage during our Rainforest Review Show at 11:30 in Monkey Pavilion.
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