Distribution and Habitat
The black crested gibbon has a discontinuous distribution across southwestern China, northwestern Laos, and northern Vietnam. One thousand years ago, gibbons which may have been crested gibbons (Nomascus) were found over a large part of southern and central China up to the Yellow River.
The four subspecies are geographically separated. The Tonkin black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor concolor) occurs in southern China (southwestern Yunnan) and northern Vietnam (Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Son La, and Lai Chau Provinces), between the Black and Red Rivers. The west Yunnan black crested gibbon (N. c. furvogaster) occurs in a small area near the Burma border, west of the Mekong, in southwestern Yunnan, southern China. The central Yunnan black crested gibbon (N. c. jingdongensis) occurs in a small region around the Wuliang Mountain, between the Mekong and Chuanhe rivers in west-central Yunnan. The Laotian black crested gibbon (N. c. lu) occurs in northwestern Laos in an isolated population on the east bank of the Mekong in Laos.
The black crested gibbon inhabits tropical evergreen, semievergreen, deciduous forests in subtropical and mountainous areas. It generally lives in high altitudes, from 2100 to 2400 m above sea level, where most of their food resources are concentrated. In Vietnam and Laos, the species is found at lower altitudes, while in China, it has been observed as high as 2689 meters.
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