They spend all of their lives in the canopyof the trees, rarely touching the ground. Their extremely long arms, handsand fingers give the Gibbon an advantage in moving through the treetops. They hook a hand over the branches and use a swinging action to glide through the forest. They have long dense fur that varies in color from black to a light golden color. Their faces are hairless with a ring of white fur surrounding the face and as their name suggests, their hands are white.
Gibbons feed at dawn and in the afternoon when the temperatures are more comfortable.
It eats fruits, shoots and the buds of trees along with insects, lizards, eggs and nestlings when it can find them. They drink by dipping one hand into a pool of water collected in the tree crevasses and licking the drops off of its fur. If you have been at the zoo in the late morning you may have heard the Gibbon's song. The pair starts the chorus, which consists of whoops, hoots and screams. They may sing for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, usually twice a day.