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Primates under pressure

Alan Mootnick, director of the Gibbon Conservation Center in Saugus, observes a group of gibbons in 2008. He was concerned about urban sprawl threatening the health and well-being of the resident primates.

Alan Mootnick, director of the Gibbon Conservation Center in Saugus, observes a group of gibbons in 2008. He was concerned about urban sprawl threatening the health and well-being of the resident primates.  (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Eastern hoolock gibbon

An eastern hoolock gibbon peers through a chain-link fence while waiting for a meal from caregivers. The center is home to the largest and rarest group of gibbons in the Western Hemisphere.  (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Hooluck gibbon

A gibbon at the Saugus refuge. The sound of a gibbon “singing” at a zoo captivated Mootnick when he was 9. “I also identified with them,” Mootnick said in a 2008 Los Angeles Times interview. “I saw similarities in myself. I was lean, and agile, and comical.”   (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Compound

A caregiver carries vegetables through the compound to feed the primates.  (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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