Primates – See Animals Wild

March 2, 2025February 26, 2025

Sumatra is finding that building bridges over roads is much cheaper than elsewhere

This seems a very cheap and simple solution to roads, at least for primates. A standard motorway bridge in the UK can cost well over $1million (estimates suggest at least £890,000). This compares to a canopy bridge costing $5000 if even that much.

Each male Sumatran Orangutan needs 15 square miles, while females need at least 3 square miles. Therefore in order to have a significant population in an area of say 1000 individuals, you are talking about needing almost 10,000 square miles of rainforest that is connected. It is highly likely, in a 100 by 100 square mile block that there will be some roads crossing it. Therefore, these simple methods for connecting forest blocks could become more and more important.

It should be noted, that while this works for primates in areas like this, it will not help the Sumatran elephants, or rhino or tigers, which share some of these forests. Still, it might mean that larger bridges for other animals to cross could be less common, while still allowing primates to cross with ease?

February 27, 2025February 25, 2025

Male dominance is perhaps less the default than thought amongst primates, a new study has found

Even before the study was started, it was known that some species are not male dominated. Above is a family of Bonobos, and these great apes live in a female dominated society.

Given our assumption that on male dominance, it is perhaps surprising, that only 58% of primate species have dominant males. Perhaps not surprising, as a result, every major primate group had at least one species which was female (or co-dominant) structures.

Indeed, with the gibbons (or lesser apes on this website, to check them out, click here to visit the home page, and then expand the species database, and click on lesser apes) all 5 species examined (there are a total of 20) have been classed as non-male dominant.

Amongst primates, this likelihood is (according to Lewis, the head of the study) relatively easily predicted, as tends to occur in the species, where there is little difference between the size of male and female members.

An example here, is clear: while a male gorilla can weigh twice that of a female, siamang gibbons only have males a couple of kg heavier than females – not surprisingly, while male gorillas are dominant, this is not the case with siamang gibbons.

It should be noted, therefore, that while 4 out the 5 species of great apes are male dominated (we assume this in humans as well, though, in the modern day, it would be hard to argue that we are not more of a co dominant species. Given that likely all the lesser apes (the gibbons) are more or less co-dominant, it follows, that even just looking at the apes, more are female dominant or co-dominant.

December 14, 2024December 11, 2024

Monkey species in Egypt lived on fruit 30 million years ago

It is hard to believe that habitats like this could possible have previously held rainforest which produces enough soft fruit for monkeys like this. Just 10,000 years ago crops were a new thing, in the same way that cows and other livestock farming. Before this, we had to hunt for virtually everything.

The reason that they can work out what monkeys ate, is because they have seen the teeth, and they were not chipped at all, as a result of soft diet. There are thought to have been roughly 5 species of this small monkey family living at the time (30 million years ago). This is new, as formerly it was thought that early primates ate some fruit but also harder foods – clearly they specialized in fruit earlier than we thought.

November 18, 2024November 18, 2024

On the founding of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, locals were pushed out -they now have the right to return, what will happen

Kahuzi-Biega National Park was established in 1937 by the Belgium colonial rulers and then expanded in 1975. It now covers 6000 square km or 2300 square miles. Roughly 13000 Batwa were cleared out of the area to make way for the park (along with other people who had settled more recently).

Agile Mangabey

The agile mangabey is an Old World monkey of the white-eyelid mangabey group found in swampy forests of Central Africa in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, and DR Congo.

Until 1978, it was considered a subspecies of the Tana River mangabey. More recently, the golden-bellied mangabey has been considered a separate species instead of a subspecies of the agile mangabey.

Similar to other mangabeys, they are active during the day. Although generally tree-living, they do spend a significant portion of their time (12–22%) on the ground, especially during the dry season. It is often heard first, and males have a loud, species-specific call that is believed to be used to space themselves out – in a similar way that wolves operate with howls. Other calls are also used to maintain group cohesion and warn of predators. Group size can be as high as 18 members, led by a single dominant male. Group meetings can be friendly and may involve exchange of members.

Adult males not in groups often travel singly.

Fruit makes up a major portion of the agile mangabey diet. They are known to eat at least 42 different species of fruit. Their tooth structure and powerful jaws allows them to open tough pods and fruits that many other monkeys can not access. Agile mangabeys eat from a number of dominant swamp-forest trees, including Irvingia, Sugar plums when they are fruiting. They also eat fresh leaf shoots from Raffia palm when fruits are scarce. Grass and mushrooms, Invertebrates, bird’s eggs and some vertebrate prey, such as rodents.

As we find links, to help you book to see this species, the links will be added at the bottom of the page.

Primate family tree main and great and lesser apes

Primate family tree

The primates are in some ways one of the most successful families. It is true that many are now endangered, however, unfortunately, that is as a result of the run-away success of the most successful member of the primate family us! Having left the rainforests behind, we have been reducing their coverage dramatically over the last few centuries.

The sad thing, is that while we have pushed many of our closest cousins towards extinction, the loss of forests may well cost us dearly in the future as well. As a species, we need to pull together to meet this challenge. in order to jump to the various families, click on the family of interest above – though all can also be reached by scrolling down.

Great Apes

Eastern Lowland gorilla

Mountain Gorilla

Western lowland gorilla

Cross river gorilla

Great ape Family split is thought to have split from its nearest relative – the gibbon family, around 17 million years ago.

4 million years later the Orangutan family split from the gorilla line and the human/chimp line.

3 million years after this (so around 10 million years ago) the gorilla family split from the Homo (humans) and Pan

Finally the human line (homo) split from the Pan line 5-6 million years ago.

It should be noted, that chimpanzees and Bonobos split from a common ancestor just 1.8 million years ago. This occurred as the two populations ceased to be able to have contact with each other – the Congo rive formed between 1.5 and 2 million years ago.

For more information on each species, click on their photo and this will take you to their page

It should be noted that while I have grouped eastern western and skywalker gibbon together, there is some contention that the skywalker gibbon should be in its own genus, having diverged around half a million years aog

Gibbons

siamang gibbon genus Symphalangus

hookock gibbon (Eastern, Western and Skywalker) Genus Hoolock

genus Normascus (crested gibbon)

Agile gibbon

Genus Nomascus

This family is the Genus: Nomascus or crested gibbon.

Black crested gibbon

Eastern black crested gibbon

Hanain black crested gibbon

Northern buffed gibbon

Norhtern white cheeked gibbon

Southern white cheeked gibbon

Yellow cheeked gibbon

The last Genus of gibbons is Hylobates: dwarf gibbons.

Abbots (Western) grey gibbon

Agile gibbon Genus Hylobates (dward gibbons)

bornean white bearded gibbon

Eastern grey gibbon

kloss gibbon

lar gibbons male and female

Mullers grey gibbon

Pileated gibbon

Silvery gibbon

July 18, 2023January 28, 2025

World maps: explore

Zoom level changed to 1

This website aims to make it easy for those living with wildlife, and those who would like to see it, to find each other. Where-ever the wildlife, if the local people do not benefit it will not survive. Please note, on some computers these maps can take 10 seconds to load.

Explore the worlds wilds, through the map above (each country contains a list of any wild areas within it – world maps for each fo these can be found at the top of the page -“wild places, “shadow of mankind”, “Hides”, “Future places” & “sightings board”), or the species in the expandable section below. Add your destinations, by clicking on “list your wild”. Scroll down to read our latest wild news.

Agile Mangabey

Primate family tree

Great Apes

Gibbons

Genus Nomascus

Black rhino

Javan rhino

Sumatran rhino

White Rhino

greater indian one horned rhino

African Forest elephant

Sumatran elephant – E. m. sumatranus.

Indian elephant – E. m. indicus

African Savannah elephant

Sri Lankan (and southern India) Elephant – E. m. maximus

Asian elephant (Nominate species)

Pygmy hippopotamus

Common hippopotamus

Rock (or cape) Hyrax

Benin tree hyrax

Southern tree hyrax

Western (or Beecrofts) tree Hyrax photo credit Valerius Tygart

Yellow-spotted rock Hyrax

Eastern tree hyrax

West african manatee

West Indian Manatee

Amazon manatee

dogong

European bison

Giant Sable

Abbott’s Duiker

Addax

Aders’ Duiker

African buffalo

American Wood bison

7. Antilopinae (Bates’ Pigmy Antelope)

Bay Duiker

Beira

5. Hippotraginae (Beisa Oryx)

Black Duiker

Black wildebeest

Black-fronted Duiker

Blue Duiker

Boher reedbuck

Bola Batu babirusa

Bontebok

Borneo Bearded pig photo credit Quinet

Cape Grysbok

Coke’s Hartebeest

Common warthog

Dama Gazelle

Desert Warthog

Docas Gazelle

Domestic cattle

Domestic pig

Domesticated yak

Eastern bongo

European bison

Gaur

Giant eland (eastern and western subspecies)

Giant forest hog

Greater Kudu

Grey Duiker or common

Grey rhebok

Guenther’s Dikdik

Harvey’s Red Duiker

4. Alcelaphinae (Hirola)

Impala

Javan banteng

Javan warty pig

Jentink’s Duiker

Kirk’s Dikdik

Klipspringer

Kob

Lelwel hartebeest

Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest

Lowland Anoa

Maxwell’s Duiker

Mhorr Gazelle

Mountain Anoa