This is a siamang and part of the beloved siamang and gibbon habitat at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. If you’re like me, you’ve probably stood by their open-air enclosure near the entrance to Kali River Rapids for minutes, if not hours, on end watching them interact and swing from place to place on their ropes.
Gibbons are considered to be among the “lesser apes,” a term used to distinguish them from the larger great apes like gorillas and chimpanzees. Siamangs are the largest of the gibbons.
A siamang’s most distinctive feature is the inflatable throat sac beneath its chin. They use it to amplify their calls, and you’ve probably heard just how loud those calls can be if you’ve spent any time watching them at DAK. They’re known for their territorial singing rituals and pair or family duets.
And the nature of their DAK habitat? It’s because they’re built for life in the trees. Their arms can be about 2 1/2 times the length of their bodies, and observers have recorded them swinging upwards of 25 to 32 feet in a single flight through the forest canopy.
Socially, they are fascinating. Siamangs are among the primates known for forming long-term pair bonds, and zoos commonly describe them as living in small family groups and being strongly territorial and protective of those families. If you’ve ever watched them at DAK, you’ve likely seen how sweet they can be together.
They’re smart, too, with distinct personalities. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo has described some of theirs as “superstars at training” and as observant, social, and mentally engaged animals. They feel somehow both familiar—in their ape-like posture, hands, relationships, and expressive eyes—and foreign in how they move through their world of the forest canopy.
This is one of the clearest shots I’ve ever gotten of one, but what I loved about it was less about how tack sharp it was and more about the expression on his face (or hers, it's hard to tell for sure with them). Taken at 400mm, 1/160 second, f/6.3, ISO 100.