Yorkshire Wildlife Park is welcoming a trio of rare Lar Gibbons to a new reserve this Easter

50-year-old Gale, who is the one of the oldest known Lar Gibbons in the international studbook, 18-year-old Manis, and 10-year-old Koopa are all being rehomed from South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria, which closed in 2025.

They will be living in the brand new, purpose-built Malaysian Singing Forest reserve, funded by the charity based at the park, the WildLife Foundation, opening this Friday, 3rd April. 

Director of Animals at YWP, Dr Charlotte Macdonald, revealed: “We are delighted to welcome the three gibbons to our new Malaysian Singing Forest Reserve. The reserve is named for their haunting, melodic calls - often in the form of early morning duets.

“Gale has provided an invaluable genetic contribution to the European Endangered Species programme in the past and is easily spotted with her flowing blonde coat. They have settled in well at the Park since they arrived 7 days ago.”

Funded by a grant from the WildLife Foundation charity, the Singing Forest has been carefully designed around an existing natural environment which meets the physical and behavioural needs of the gibbons. It also serves as a powerful platform to educate visitors to the park on conservation issues and how they can help including raising funds for gibbon conservation in the wild. 

 WildLife Foundation Trustee, Cheryl Williams, explained: “The Singing Forest represents everything we stand for: conservation, education, and meaningful action. 

“Through the support of the WildLife Foundation, Yorkshire Wildlife Park is not only providing a home for these incredible animals, but also raising awareness of the urgent challenges they face in the wild.

“This is the first WildLife Foundation-funded habitat at YWP, and we are delighted to be able to provide a happy environment to these incredible primates.”

Lar Gibbons (Hylobates lar) - also known as white-handed gibbons – are small apes native to the tropical rainforests of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. 

Highly agile, they can travel through the trees by brachiation (swinging from branch to branch) at speeds of up to 35mph and are the fastest nonflying tree dwellers. They can also leap up to 15m between trees in the forest canopy. Deeply social, they form strong family bonds and communicate through complex loud vocal duets usually as a morning call. 

Crucially, they also play a vital ecological role - helping forests regenerate by dispersing seeds from the fruit they consume, supporting biodiversity and local communities alike.

Despite their importance, gibbons are among the most threatened primates on Earth. All 20 species face the risk of extinction due to deforestation, particularly from palm oil production, logging and the illegal wildlife trade.

Young gibbons are often taken from the wild to be sold as pets or used as props for tourist photos, a practice increasingly fuelled by misleading “cute” social media content that hides the reality of cruelty behind the scenes.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which puts conservation at the heart of all its activities, offers visitors a mesmerising walk-through experience, coming almost face to face with some of the world’s most beautiful and at-risk species, including Polar Bears, Black Rhinos, Giraffes and African Painted Dogs.