Cao-vit gibbon: 74 left in Vietnam-China border forests
Recent Developments
01March 2024: A study reported the population at 74 individuals, 38% lower than the previous estimate of 120, but attributed the change to better survey methods rather than a real decline.
02March 2025: Fauna & Flora reported a newborn Cao-vit gibbon spotted during routine patrols in Cao Bằng, Vietnam, and said recent monitoring suggests the population is still growing slowly.
032024: Monitoring in Bangliang Gibbon Nature Reserve in Guangxi, China recorded 39 individuals, underscoring the species’ dependence on transboundary habitat management.
Interventions
- Protected-area management and ranger/community patrols against poaching in Vietnam and China.
- Long-term acoustic monitoring, habitat restoration, and transboundary conservation cooperation led by Fauna & Flora and partners.
- Community outreach, sustainable livelihood support, and educational work with local schools and villages.
What Works
- Long-term protection from hunting and poaching has helped keep the population from collapsing further since rediscovery in 2002.
- Accurate acoustic/vocal fingerprinting and repeated monitoring improve population estimates and help target conservation actions more effectively.
- Habitat restoration and the creation of forest corridors are identified by researchers as essential for long-term persistence because the current forest block is too small.
How to Help
- Donate to organizations working on Cao-vit gibbon conservation, including Fauna & Flora and related local partners.
- Support reputable primate and forest-conservation NGOs working in Vietnam and southern China.
- Advocate for transboundary forest protection, anti-poaching enforcement, and habitat restoration funding.
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Verified Organizations
Organizations Helping(8)
KFBG supports cao-vit gibbon conservation on the Chinese side of the border by working with reserve managers, local communities, and township governments. Its approach includes community visits to assess livelihoods and conservation awareness, creating stakeholder dialogue platforms, supporting habitat restoration and vegetation assessment in degraded and reforestation areas, and running education and outreach programs to build long-term public support for gibbon conservation.
Manages the Ranger Station of Trung Khanh Species Habitat Conservation Area, conducting regular patrolling, gibbon population monitoring, habitat restoration, and law enforcement in partnership with NGOs to protect the last remaining Cao Vit gibbon population.
PRC Foundation partners with Fauna & Flora on transboundary Cao Vit gibbon conservation in Cao Bang Province, Vietnam. They support community-based patrol groups for monitoring gibbon populations and threat reduction, habitat restoration through tree planting, law enforcement assistance, sustainable agriculture and community tourism cooperatives to reduce habitat loss pressures in buffer zones, and implementation of the Cao Vit Gibbon Conservation Action Plan 2021-2030.
CLP funds and mentors conservation research projects for the Cao Vit gibbon in China (Guangxi), led by researcher Fan Pengfei. Their approach addresses immediate threats like fuelwood collection and agricultural conversion in karst forests by conducting field research on population status, habitat threats, and effective conservation activities to ensure long-term survival of the species in the transboundary area.
