Fang Ye was deeply engrossed in designing when his phone suddenly "dinged."
He saw that someone had sent him a WeChat friend request using a hoolock gibbon as their profile picture.
Their note said their name was Fan Peng, a gibbon researcher.
After Fang Ye accepted the friend request, he messaged, "Hello, Professor Fan!"
"Hello, Zoo Director Fang! The thing is, it might be a little complicated to explain..."
"No problem, take your time."
The other person took a while to explain!
Fan Peng was a researcher of gibbons, primarily focusing on the Skywalker hoolock gibbon.
There were originally believed to be two species of hoolock gibbons: the western hoolock gibbon and the eastern hoolock gibbon, with the Skywalker hoolock gibbon being unique to China, often confused with the eastern hoolock.
A few years ago, IUCN delineated an additional species among the hoolock gibbons, thanks to the work done by Fan Peng and his team.
