About the project
THE TAUBMAN SIAMANG MONKEY ISLAND
dedicated May 21st1998 is situated at the entrance to the Tisch Family Zoo.
“Monkey Island” is a misnomer, Siamangs are not monkeys but Gibbons, (Ape Family) and the most noticeable of characteristics supporting this is their absence of tail, monkeys have tails.
They are intelligent, excellent acrobats, and are also quite accomplished at walking on two legs, but it is their call that distinguishes them from other primates, and makes them so amazing, that the zoo reverberates with their calling from one end to the other. Siamangs voices are amplified and enhanced by a throat sac that acts as a resonator. If you close your eyes and just listen, you just might think you’re in the jungle.
Their Island home gives visitors an opportunity to watch them in a more natural setting, preferable for those on either side of the lake .
Siamang’s live in family groups with a dominate male, they are sociable, and have a life expentacy of 25 – 30 years.
