The Rarest Song in the Forest
In a single forest on a Chinese island, the world's rarest ape greets each dawn with a duet. Only a few dozen are left to sing it.
What was reported
The Hainan gibbon lives only in the Bawangling forest on Hainan island, and with around forty left, it's the rarest ape in the world. In the early 2000s, only about a dozen were known.
Each morning, gibbon families sing: the male begins with whoops, and the female joins with a rising 'great call'. Rangers find and count them by listening for their songs, which carry far across the hills.
Explanations offered
Gibbons sing to defend their territories and strengthen pair bonds. Protection of the forest and planting of fruit trees have helped their numbers slowly grow, but they remain critically endangered.
- When
- Every dawn
- Where
- Bawangling, Hainan, China
- Witnesses
- Rangers and researchers
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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