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Hylobates funereus
Basic stats
Diet
Fruit (especially figs), leaves, insects
Habitat
Primary and tall secondary lowland/hill forest
Range
Sabah, Brunei, and northern/eastern Kalimantan, south to the Mahakam River and west to the Baram River
Litter size
1 (genus-typical figure)
Gestation period
About 7 months (genus-typical figure)
Size
Small, tailless ape (head-body 44–64cm)
Weight
4–8kg (genus-typical figure)
'North Bornean gibbon' is not a formally recognised distinct taxon — it is an informal common name used inconsistently in field guides and online sources, and where it is used at all it tracks with the species that actually occupies northern Borneo: Hylobates funereus, which this site also lists separately as the 'Northern Grey Gibbon.' The two entries describe the same animal.
Darker and more contrastingly marked than Borneo's other grey gibbons: a blackish-brown cap, underparts and inner limbs set off by a broad white brow and pale cheek patches, with hands distinctly darker than the limbs. This is the gibbon actually heard and seen across Sabah's forests, including Danum Valley, Imbak Canyon and Tawau Hills — best located by ear at first light, then tracked visually as the loud, rising dawn duet calls settle. Pairs are monogamous and defend a fixed territory, moving by hand-over-hand brachiation through the canopy.
Endangered (IUCN, assessed 2020), with population declines of more than 50% over roughly 30 years driven by oil-palm and timber-related habitat loss.
