On January 27th 2004 a Facebook user posting in the group ‘Wildlife Sightings in Chiang Mai’ reported seeing and hearing White Handed Gibbons (also known as Lar Gibbons) travelling through the jungle on the edge of rice terraces inside Doi Inthanon National Park.
Gibbons are an endangered species in Thailand and very rarely seen around Chiang Mai. According to the Thai National Parks website “The lar gibbon (Hylobates lar, in Thai: ชะนีมือขาว), also known as the white-handed gibbon, is an endangered primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. In Thailand, lar gibbons probably number between 15, 000 and 20, 000, though there may be as few as 10 in China, if any.”
Facebook user Guide Icezy Chiang Mai posted:
“White Handed Gibbon has been found at Pha Dok Seaw Trail -Mae Klang Luang Village’s Rice terraces View point Doi Inthanon National Park.”
The Facebook post contained several photos and a video which clearly shows a large primate swinging through the jungle. They later added a second post with additional videos with an audio track of the Gibbons.
“Gibbon vocal displaying in a cloudy day at “Pha Dok Seaw” Nature trail and appeared on a hill by the side of Rice Terraces”
Doi Inthanon National Park is situated to the south of Chiang Mai on Thailand’s highest mountain. To reach the summit it takes 2hrs to drive from Chiang Mai and there’s a visitors centre, nature trails and plenty of rare birds.
Read the full post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/cmwildlife
