The male siamangs, native to Malaysia and Sumatra in Indonesia, are Tasmania's first apes and the newest arrivals at Riverside's Tasmania Zoo.

Zoo owner Dick Warren said the apes - six-year-old Beau and eight-year-old Ollie - would be part of a breeding program.

''In the next 18 months, we will have to probably send one away and bring a female in, and it will be critical for them to breed,'' Mr Warren said.

''They're very rare, there's not many in Australia, and there's very little left in the wild.''

He said the apes were yesterday overwhelmed, after travelling from their former North Queensland home.

''Where they've been housed for the last few years is in a very small shed, they couldn't see the sky, had never seen dirt, and had just never seen the open,'' Mr Warren said.

''They're going to be here at least two days before they settle in, and realise what dirt is . . . so they're completely lost at the moment.

''This is a very new environment to them, and the size of the enclosure means they're in heaven now.''