Your morning adorable: Baby gibbon at Germany’s Schwerin Zoo

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Staff at Germany’s Schwerin Zoo had to take over where this month-old gibbon’s mother left off when she abandoned the baby. Since then, keepers have been raising the baby by hand but have kept her in constant contact with her parents, hoping to reintegrate her when she’s older.

Gibbons are considered ‘lesser apes’ -- not a value judgment, but they’re smaller than the ‘great apes’ (think gorillas and chimpanzees) and in some ways more closely resemble monkeys than apes. Unlike great apes, gibbons don’t build nests to sleep in; instead, they sleep sitting up with their arms wrapped around their knees!

Unlike most primate species, gibbons form monogamous bonds. Gibbon groups are led by adult females, also an unusual trait among primates.

More photos after the jump!

-- Lindsay Barnett