Chemical Composition And Digestibility Of Natural And Domestic Food Of The Lar Gibbon (Hylobates Lar) In Malaysia
The collection of samples of natural foods of the lar gibbon (Hylobates lar) was undertaken at the Krau Gare Reserve over a period of on e year. A total of 145 plant items were collected of which 35 were consumed by the lar gibbon. Food saqples were chemically analyzed for both primary and secon...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
1981
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11707/1/FPV_1981_1_A.pdf |
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| Summary: | The collection of samples of natural foods of the lar gibbon
(Hylobates lar) was undertaken at the Krau Gare Reserve over a period
of on e year. A total of 145 plant items were collected of which 35
were consumed by the lar gibbon. Food saqples were chemically analyzed
for both primary and secondary metabolites. The non-eaten food items
were analyzed for all or some of these measures. The principal diet of
the lar gibbon is Ficus spp. There are probably attracted to these
most because of their soft and succulent nature. The protein and amino
acid requirements in the wild are achieved by consuming young leaves
and invertebrates. The lar tends to avoid foods of high fat content.
It avoids mature leaves due to their poor nutritive value. The lar
obtains carbohydrates, readily available sugars and energy from the
ripe pulp of fruits.High in vivo digestibility values were obtained
for the formulated basal diet when compared to the natural and domestic
foods. The in vivo and in vitro assays of Randia scortechinii, knema
cinerea and Sarcotheca grifithii gave values in fairly good agreement
with one another. The present study concludes that the lar gibbon
lacks specialisation of the gastro-intestinal tract for either the
bulk intake of fibrous food or for the detoxification of alkaloids.
The lar gibbon tends to avoid food with a high level of tannins.
Therefore they are selective feeders in comparison with some other
primates, being restricted to a diet of succulent fruit pulp, young
leaves, flowers and invertebrates. |
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