Gibbon baby celebrates 1st birthday

Shiwu at 1-month old. [Photo provided by Wildlife Rescue Center of Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture]

China's first artificially bred white-browed gibbon — an endangered species of fruit-eating ape — recently celebrated its first birthday in Yunnan province.

The male gibbon, named Shiwu, is in good health at the Wildlife Rescue Center of Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture and has grown from 450 grams when it was 1-month-old to its current weight of 1,920 grams, said Teng Ping, a senior engineer at the center.

Shiwu at 1-month old. [Photo provided by Wildlife Rescue Center of Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture]

Shiwu was bred by the wildlife rescue center's white-browed gibbon innovation team through manual intervention. It was born on Oct 19 last year, Teng said.

Before Shiwu was born, the center had three adult male gibbons, plus Maoqiu, Shiwu's mother, she said.

Shiwu was fed with goat's milk during the daytime and breast milk when it returned to its mother's arms at night, she said.

Shiwu was 1-year old. [Photo by Wang Shirui/For chinadaily.com.cn]

White-browed gibbons, which are now under strict State protection, mainly live in China and Myanmar. In China, they are mainly found in Baoshan, Tengchong, Yingjiang and Longchuan, Yunnan province.