大象传媒

The population of the critically endangered cao-vit gibbon, confined to a small forest fragment on the Vietnam-China border, is now estimated to comprise a mere 74 individuals in just 11 family groups.

This figure is 38% lower than the previous estimate of 120 individuals.

The primate was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered by conservation charity, Fauna & Flora International in 2002.

In collaboration with local partners, Fauna & Flora鈥檚 conservation team in Vietnam conducted the latest population survey. For the first time, they applied a "vocal fingerprinting" technique, where acoustic recorders are used to listen to gibbon songs and identify individual voices.

Project lead, Oliver Wearn told Newsday that the habitat of cao-vit gibbons 鈥渉as been suffering from degradation for many decades so the population is somewhat depressed at this point but with restoration we think the future could be hopeful.鈥�

(Picture: Shows a female cao-vit gibbon with young in rainforest habitat in northern Vietnam. Credit: Nguy峄卬 V膬n Tr瓢峄漬g / Fauna & Flora.)

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