Siamang

Taxobox
name = SiamangMSW3 Groves|pages=181]
status = EN
status_system = iucn3.1
trend = unknown
status_ref = IUCN2006|assessors=Eudey "et al"|year=2000|id=39779|title=Symphalangus syndactylus|downloaded=11 May 2006 ]


image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Primates
familia = Hylobatidae
genus = "Symphalangus"
genus_authority = Gloger, 1841
species = "S. syndactylus"
binomial = "Symphalangus syndactylus"
binomial_authority = (Raffles, 1821)

The Siamang ("Symphalangus syndactylus") is a tailless, arboreal, black furred gibbon native to the forests of Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra. The largest of the lesser apes, the Siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching 1 m in height, and weighing up to 23 kg. The Siamang is the only species in the genus "Symphalangus".

The Siamang is distinctive for two reasons. The first is that two fingers on each hand are fused together (hence the name "syndactylus"). The second is the large "gular sac" (found in both male and female of the species), which is a throat pouch that can be inflated to the size of its head, allowing the Siamang to make loud resonating calls or songs.

There may be two subspecies of the Siamang. If so, they are the nominate Sumatran Siamang ("S. s. syndactylus") and the Malaysian Siamang ("S. s. continentis", in peninsular Malaysia).cite web | last = Geissmann | first = Thomas | title = Gibbon Systematics and Species Identification | url = http://gibbons.de/main/system/intro.html | accessdate = 2006-04-13] Otherwise, the Malaysian individuals are only a population. The Siamang is the only gibbon which occurs sympatrically with other gibbons; its two ranges are entirely within the combined ranges of the Agile Gibbon and the Lar Gibbon.

The Siamang can live up to 30+ years in captivity.

While the illegal pet trade takes a toll on wild populations, the principal threat to the Siamang is habitat loss in both Malaysia and Sumatra. Palm oil production is clearing large swathes of forest, reducing the habitat of the Siamang, along with that of other species such as the Sumatran Tiger.

Ecology

The Siamang inhabits the forest remnants of Sumatra Island and the Malay Peninsula, and is widely distributed from lowland forest to montane forest. The Siamang lives in groups of up to 6 individuals (4 individuals on average) with a home range 23 hectares on average.cite journal | author = O'Brien, T.G., M.F. Kinnaird, A. Nurcahyo, M. Prasetyaningrum, dan M. Iqbal | year = 2003 | title = Fire, demography and persistence of siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus: Hylobatidae) in a Sumatran rainforest | journal = Animal Conservation | volume = 6 | pages = 115 | doi = 10.1017/S1367943003003159] The Siamang's melodious choir singing breaks the forest's silence in the early morning after the Agile Gibbon or Lar Gibbon's calls. The Siamang in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula are similar in appearance, but there are some differences in behaviour between the two populations.

Diet

The Siamang mainly eats various parts of plants. The Sumatran Siamang is more frugivorous than its Malayan cousin, with fruit making up to 60% of its diet. The Siamang eats at least 160 species of plants, from vines to woody plants. Its major food is figs ("Ficus" spp.), a member of Moraceae family.Nurcahyo, A. (2001). Daily Ranging, Home-Range, Foods, Feeding and Calling in Siamang (Hylobates syndactylus). In WCS-IP 2001. Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Space and Time. 2000 -2001 Research Report. WCS-IP/ PHKA, Bogor. 35-52. (In Indonesian)] The Siamang prefers to eat ripe fruit rather than unripe fruit, and young leaves rather than old leaves. It eats flowers and a few animals, mostly insects. When the Siamang eats large flowers, it will eat only the corolla (petal), but it will eat all parts of smaller flowers, with the small fruit collected in its hand before being consumed. When it eats big and hard seeds or seeds with sharp edge it will peel out the fruit flesh and throw away the seed.

Demography and population

A group of Siamang normally consist of an adult dominant male, an adult dominant female, with offspring, infant and sometimes a sub-adult. The sub-adult usually leaves the group after the age 6 to 8 years; sub-adult females tend to leave the group earlier than sub-adult males. A study in relation to effect of habitat disturbance on the Siamang found that group composition is varied in age-sex structure between intact forest and post-burnt forest. The post-burnt population was more adult and sub-adults than the intact population. Post-burnt groups contain fewer infants, small juveniles and large juveniles compared to intact forest groups. Infant survival rates in post-burnt groups are lower than in intact forests. The number of individuals in intact forests is higher than in post-burnt forests. The Siamang in disturbed forests live in small groups and have a density lower than in intact forests because of lack of food resources and trees for living. In the 1980s, the Indonesian population of the Siamang in the wild was estimated to be 360,000 individuals. This seems over-estimate today, as an example, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is the third largest protected area (3,568 km²) in Sumatra, of which approximately 2,570 km² remains under forest cover inhabit by 22,390 siamangs (in 2002 censuses). According to two different research projects conducted in Sumatra, the Siamang prefer to inhabit lowland forest below between 500 m in altitude and over 1000 m above sea level.

Behaviour

The Siamang tends to rest for more than 50% of its waking period (from dawn to dusk), followed by feeding, moving, foraging and social activities. It takes more rest during midday, taking time to groom each other or play. During resting time it usually uses a branch of a large tree lying on their back or on their stomach. Feeding behaviors, foraging, and moving are most often in the morning and after resting time. DPPP 5348.jpgIn the dry season the length of the Siamang's daily range is longer than in the rainy season. The Siamang in southern Sumatra undertakes less foraging than the Siamang in other places because it eats more fruit and therefore consumes more nutrition, which results in less time needed for looking for food. Sometimes the Siamang will spend all of the day in one big fruiting tree, just moving out when it wants to rest and then coming back again to fruiting trees.

Role of calling

The Siamang starts its day by calling in the early morning and calls less after midday, with the peak of their calls around 9:00 am to 10:00 am. Most of the Siamang's calls are directed to its neighbours rather than to inside its home range. This means that the Siamang's calling is in response to disturbances and is to defend its territory. Calls in the late morning typically happen when it meets or sees another Siamang group. The edge of the Siamang's home range, which may overlap another, is often the places where calling is made. Counter-call (co-response calling) occasionally happens near the border or in the overlap area. Calls are numerous when fruit is more abundant rather than when fruit is less available. Branch shaking, swinging, and moving around the tree crowns accompany the calling. This movement might be to show the other groups where they are.

The Siamang prefers calling in the living, high and big trees, it might be the places where another group is easy to see. Beside that, living, big, and tall trees can support Siamang movement. Calling trees are usually near feeding trees but sometimes they call in the feeding trees.cite journal | author = Kinnaird, M.F., O’Brien, T.G., Nurcahyo, A. and Prasetyaningrum, M. | year = 2002 | title = Intergroup spacing and the role of calling among siamangs | journal = Proceedings of the XIX Congrees of the International Primatological Society (abstract)]

iamang and their habitat

As a frugivorous animal, the Siamang disperses seeds through defacation as it travels across its territory. The Siamang can carry seed and defecate over 300 m with the shortest distance being 47.6 m from the seed resource, which supports the forest regeneration and succession.Rusmanto, M. (2001). Seed dispersal by siamang (Hylobates syndactylus). In WCS-IP 2001. Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Space and Time. 2000 -2001 Research Report. WCS-IP/ PHKA, Bogor. 53-64. (In Indonesian)]

Threats to population

The Siamang, as an arboreal primate, absolutely depends on the forest for existence, needing trees for its living. At the moment, the Siamang is facing a population decrease due to habitat losscite journal | author = O'Brien, T.G., M.F. Kinnaird, A. Nurcahyo, M. Iqbal and M. Rusmanto | year = 2004 | title = Abundance and Distribution of Sympatric Gibbons in a Threatened Sumatran Rainforest | journal = International Journal of Primatology | volume = 25 | pages = 267–284 | doi = 10.1023/B:IJOP.0000019152.83883.1c] , poaching and hunting.Nursahid, R. and Bakdiantoro, H. (2005). Illegal Primate Trade in Indonesia. Profauna Indonesia. Presentation in SEAPA 1st Congress.] Nijman,V. (2005). In Full Swing: An Assessment of Trade in Orang-Utans and Gibbons on Java and Bali, Indonesia. A Traffict Southeast Asia Report. Traffic Southeast Asia]

Habitat loss

A major threat to the Siamang is habitat loss due to plantation, forest fire, illegal logging, encroachment, and human development. Firstly, palm oil plantations have removed large areas of the Siamang's habitat in the last four decades. Since 2002 107,000 square kilometres of palm oil have been planted,Palmer, C. E. The Extent and Causes of Illegal Logging: An Analysis of a Major Cause of Tropical Deforestation in Indonesia. CSERGE Working Paper.] which has replaced much rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia, where the Siamang originally used to live. Secondly, in the last two decades, forest fire destroyed more than 20,000 km² of Sumatran rainforest, mainly in the lowland area where most of the Siamang live. Thirdly, the rate of illegal logging in Indonesia increased from 1980 to 1995 and even more rapidly after the reformation era beginning in 1998. These illegal activities devastated the remaining tropical rainforest especially in Sumatra. Fourthly, forest encroachments change forest cover into cultivated land, for example; the rising price of coffee in 1998 has been encouraging people in Sumatra to replace the forest with coffee plantation.cite journal | author = Kinnaird, M.F., Sanderson, E.W., O'Brien, T.G., Wibisono, H.T., and Woolmer, G. | year = 2003 | title = Deforestation trends in a tropical landscape and implications for endangered mammals | journal = Cons. Biol. | volume = 17 | pages = 245–257 | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02040.x] Fifthly, development in many areas needs infrastructure such as roads, which now divide a lot of conservation areas have been caused forest fragmentation and edge effects. Unfortunately, the Siamang as an arboreal primate faces difficulty because road establishment has disconnected their pathways.

Poaching and hunting

Unlike other parts of Asia, primates are not hunted for their meat in Indonesia (the exception is in Chinese restaurants in Indonesia which sometimes serve macaque on their menu). However, they are poached and hunted for the illegal pet trade, mostly for infant Siamang. Poachers kill the mothers because mother Siamang are highly protective of their infants. It is therefore very difficult to remove the infant without first killing the mother. Despite the fact that most Siamang on the market are infants many infants nevertheless die during transportation.

References

External links

* [http://www.gibbons.de/main/photo/12synd.html Siamang photos]
* [http://www.gibbons.de/main/sound/12synd.html Siamang songs]
* [http://www.gibboncenter.org/ Gibbon Conservation Center]
* [http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/siamang Primate Info Net "Symphalangus syndactylus" Factsheet]