Northern Yellow-cheeked Gibbon Nomascus annamensis

The Northern Yellow-cheeked Gibbon, also called the Northern Golden-cheeked, is native to fragmented areas of forest in Vietnam. Identified as a separate species only in 2010, it is already endangered. Like the Southern Yellow-/Golden-cheeked, the adult male (above) is black with "golden cheeks" - like shaving brushes either side of his muzzle.

The female (above) is blonde with a dark brown/black bar on the centre of her crown. All are born blond to match their mother's fur and all turn black as juveniles. Females turn blonde again on reaching sexual maturity. They are endangered by continuing deforestation (for agriculture, roads and forest exploitation) and by hunting for meat, traditional medicine and the illegal pet trade.