Lar Gibbons are unlike other apes in that they act as seed carriers for the fruits they eat. They swallow most of the seeds in their diet, and several fruits that gibbons eat are dependent on the the digestive process to both remove the outer cover of the seeds and to disperse them through the environment. Without the gibbons, many of these fruit species could also be endangered.
Lar gibbons are
diurnal and
arboreal, inhabiting rain forests. They rarely come to the ground, instead using their long arms to
brachiate through the trees. With their hooked hands they can move swiftly with great momentum, swinging from the branches.
Family groups inhabit a firm
territory, which they protect by warding off other gibbons with their calls. Each morning the family gathers on the edge of its territory and begins a "great call," a duet between the breeding pair. Each species has a typified call and each breeding pair has unique variations on that theme.
Lar gibbons are threatened in various ways: they are sometimes hunted for their meat, sometimes a parent is killed in order to capture young animals for pets and the largest danger is the loss of habitat.
The life expectancy of the lar gibbons in the wild is about 25 years.
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