Volume  Issue 6,
June,10

Gibbon Updates

Chompoo

On May 30th Chompoo was showing signs of illness.  She was unusually quiet and lethargic, eating very little, and her stomach was very bloated.  By June 9th her condition had deteriorated more so and it was thought that she would not survive.  Her mouth was soaked in saliva, so much so that she could not eat anything, and she could only move her eyes.  She had been diagnosed with a severe brain virus that results in death in 95% of its cases.  Surprisingly, after being in the clinic for only two days she had a huge turnaround. She began eating again, was more alert and moving around.  She has since recovered fully, and is back to her sweet, chipper self.

Story of Chompoo

Chompoo, a female dusky langur, was approximately 4 years old when brought to the GRP on the 11th of February.  She had been kept as a pet at Chomporn province, and understandably (but naively), they tried to release Chompoo with a local wild dusky langur group.  However, Chompoo was placed into the group without a proper introduction or acclimatization period, which led to fighting between Chompoo and the group.  This fighting resulted in many cuts and wounds to Chompoo, and eventual rejection by the group.  Another conservation group in Chomporn intervened and took Chompoo in, but due to the severity of her wounds they decided that they did not have the proper facilities to treat her.  They then brought her to our sister project, WARED, in Ranong, which then transferred her to GRP, as there is an on-site veterinarian and other dusky langurs here.

On arrival at GRP Chompoo was very weak and needed constant monitoring.  Fortunately, even after all of the stress of fighting and moving that she had been through, her spirits were still high.  She had a healthy appetite, and slowly her wounds started to heal.  Her tail was very badly injured however, and eventually the tip had to be amputated two times.  Her tail is now much shorter than that of a normal dusky langur’s, but despite all that she has endured, that is the only discerning characteristic between her and other dusky langurs.

We currently have two other dusky langurs in the care of GRP, who we have already begun to introduce to each other.  Once Chompoo is completely healed, we will introduce her to the other two.  GRP is hoping to obtain more dusky langurs from the forest department, in the hopes that we can release a large group of dusky langurs into the Khao Phra Taew forest, and repopulate the forest with these leaf eating monkeys.

Gibby and Guinness

Gibby and Guinness had a change of house on June 9th.  Gibby was housed in a cage with a corridor to Honey, while Guinness was in the cage next to Honey, but with no corridor.  Gibbons live in social groups, so it is always a goal of the project to find either a mate or a friend for all of our gibbons.  We had previously tried to have Gibby and Honey interact with each other, but they ended up fighting.  It was then decided to try Guinness with Honey, as he is a friendly, easy going gibbon who was looking for a friend to groom and be groomed by.

Guinness and Honey are often seen sitting in the corners of their cages, near each other and looking at each other.  This is a great sign as they are showing interest in one another.  If they continue to show interest in one another, without aggression, we will allow them closer access to one another, and possibly in the future even have them share a cage together.

As for Gibby, she is not too happy about the move.  She much preferred her previous cage, where she was positioned at the head of the viewing platform, the center of attention.  Her new cage is slightly more hidden from view, and she doesn’t have as many people watching her (which she enjoys), as much as she did before.  If Guinness and Honey get along we plan to move Gibby and Guinness back to their previous cages, but will then build a corridor between Guinness and Honey’s cages.

Jackie chan

Jackie Chan’s cage was moved next to Balloon’s cage at the beginning of the month in our first step to introduce them to each other.  They have been looking at each other and sitting next to each other, and Balloon has even been seen handing food over to Jackie Chan.  We hope that they will get along well enough that they can share a cage.  Then we can start to slowly introduce Chompoo in an attempt at eventual release for this group.

Sam

On May 24th volunteers at the rehabilitation site noticed that Sam wasn’t his usual energetic, curious self.  He was sitting in the corner not moving.  This was very unusual for Sam, as he loves to watch people, and will follow people as they walk or move around his cage.  Even more unusual though was that he had not finished his lunch from the previous day, and was not showing interest in his breakfast.  This was very worrisome as Sam loves to eat and is always quick to have his breakfast and lunch.

On May 25th he was moved to the clinic and put under the care of Dr. Tum.  By this time he was much more lethargic and not eating at all.  If people came in to see him, he would look at them, but not even move to watch them.  He was holding his mouth open all the time, as it was difficult for him to breathe.

Sadly, our handsome boy died of pneumonia on the evening of June 27th.  As we face the problem of pneumonia every year in the wet season, it still never gets easier when we lose a gibbon to pneumonia.

Story of Sam

Sam was a beautiful chocolate brown, adult male gibbon who was born in 1987.  He was our biggest gibbon and was in fact one of the only gibbons at the project who is as large as an adult gibbon should be.  He was kept in Bangkok as a pet for 6 1/2 years, from the age of 6 months to 7 years.  As a baby he lived freely inside his owner’s house, but as he grew older and became more aggressive (as all gibbons do), he was tied to a chair and then kept in a cage on a balcony.  From the age of 3, he never left that cage, except for 2 escapes.  His owner’s neighbours were very scared of him and when his owner came home to find him in the kitchen with a knife, he knew that it was time to find Sam a better home and future.  Sam was brought to the project in 1994, at the age of 7, traveling with his owner from Bangkok by bus and train.

Possibly as a result of being punished, he was unable to sing.  Therefore he could not partake in normal gibbon behaviours such as attracting a mate or defending his territory, so he was unable to be released. At GRP he was housed by himself, but he had previously been housed with 2 female gibbons. Unfortunately, he showed no interest in them, nor them in him, which might be because he could not sing.  For gibbons, singing is the equivalent of humans talking, so he was somewhat socially inept.  He was like the gorgeous guy in the corner of the party who all the girls wanted to talk to, but when approached by someone, would sit there in silence.

Sam was moved to a new, larger cage which we hoped would lift his spirits and encourage more singing, which would have enabled us to find him a suitable mate. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful and Sam stayed alone and never started to sing. This meant we were unable to release him; however we did our best to ensure he had a happy, healthy life. Sam was a favourite at the viewing platform and liked to impress onlookers by hanging upside down and scratching himself with a leaf.  He had a huge personality, and while he could be somewhat aggressive at times, he could also be a sweetheart.  It was sweet to see him one minute grabbing something to pull into his cage and bite, then have him a second later following you around and quietly “whooping” at what was going on outside his cage.  He was a favourite of staff and volunteers alike, and will be dearly missed.

 Jonus

Since the last newsletter we have moved George back in with Khun Saul (who was also rejected by Jonus), and moved Champ into the cage adjoining Jonus.  Champ has shown interest in Jonus and is often seen sitting at the door to her cage.  Jonus is still playing hard to get (as always), but has been seen sitting next to Champ at the cage door.  This is quite a nice development as Jonus is very picky and has shown little interest in the males we had previously introduced her to.

We have started doing half day observations on Champ and Jonus to see if there is any interest in each other, or any signs of aggression.  After one week we will do full day observations.  If they continue to show even a little interest in each other we will begin to open the door between cages for short times. 

New arrival

Thongkum and Lumduan (White-handed Gibbon: Hylobates lar)

Lumduan (female) and Thongkum (male), both approximately 3 years old where brought to GRP on the 7th of May 2010. They were kept as pets and to attract tourists at a restaurant on Tritrung beach near Patong. Thongkum and Lumduan were both born wild in 2007, from different families, but both with a similar story.  Their mother was shot so that the poacher could capture her baby to sell.  It is also possible that their father or other members of their family were killed while protecting their family members.  For every captive gibbon seen, usually 10 have died, as many babies don’t survive the fall from the 30 meter high canopy.  Thongkum and Lumduan were then sold into the tourism trade, where they were kept chained to a tree to attract tourists into a restaurant.  After numerous complaints to the forestry department by tourists and locals, they were confiscated by the authorities. Their owners were going to try to fight in court to get them back, but once they realized that owning them was illegal and that they did not have the proper permits, they dropped the case. Now they currently sharing a cage at our quarantine site. Once they are old enough to start a family, usually between 8-10 years old, we hope that they can be released and live the life of a wild gibbon.

Tunda

On the 13th of May a young male gibbon approximately 6 months old, named Tunda was brought to the GRP. Tunda was sold into the pet trade where he was bought at only 2 months old, which is far too young to be separated from his mother.  After having him for only 4 months, his owners decided that they did not want him anymore.  They showed up at our education center unannounced and left him with a volunteer who was working there.  A staff member was called who came down to fill out the necessary paperwork with the owners.  He will be placed with other gibbons of a similar age to learn proper gibbon behavior and decrease his dependence on humans.  He is now currently housed on his own at our quarantine site. Once he is old enough to start a family, usually between 8-10 years old, we hope that he can be released and live the life of a wild gibbon.

Gibbon Families Currently in the Wild

First group .... "Hope Group"

Hope Group (6 gibbons: Joe, Kip, Thong, Hope, Toffee and Omyim)

Story of Hope group

Update

The Hope group have made themselves sparse this month.  The family was seen together only once this month.  Hope was observed in her territory playing with Yoge (from Arun group) again, but left once Bank (Yoge’s adoptive mother) chased her away.  Toffee was also seen playing with Arun, but in Arun territory.  The family is continuing to look happy andhealthy

.

Second group .... "Arun Group"
Arun Group (5 gibbons: Lek, Bank, Arun, Yoge, and Redy)

Story of Arun group 
Update
Not much news on the Arun group this month either.  The group was not seen this month, other than when Arun was seen playing with Toffee in Arun territory.
Third group "Payu Group"
Payu Group (4 gibbons: Payu, Dao, Namthip and Mek (or Newbe))

Story of Payu group
Update

Payu group was observed once this month.  There is still little change in this family, as all appear to be doing well.

Fourth group "Jita Group"
Jita group (3 gibbons: Jita, Tony, and Claire)

Story of Jita group
Update

Jita group is still being supplementarily fed daily.  They continue to finish their food off everyday, and Jita and Claire have been seen everyday.  Tony is being more elusive (which is probably better for the staff’s safety) and has been seen approximately every second day. 

Release preparation
Searching for a new release site:
On the 10th  of June, the staff spent a full day in the forest surveying areas that were potential release sites. The trail is still being cut on this month. Once the trail is ready, we plan to move the Kushta group (Kushta, Pee Mai, Nat and Muki) from the rehabilitation site to our training cage further into the forest.

Story of Kushta family
Kushta was paired up with Mai in 2008, and gave birth to their first child Pee Mai in January 2009.  The outlook was positive for this family for release once Pee Mai reached one year old.  However, in May 2009 Mai’s eye sight began to detoriate.  He is now nearly completely blind, and has since been moved into his own cage in quarantine as he is no longer a candidate for release.
Kushta has since been living at the rehabilitation site with her two children, and adoptive son Muki, who is close in age to Nat.  We have several young males in the forest who are now sexually mature and looking for a partner.  We are hoping to pair Kushta with one of these males.  There are also several young females in the forest who are close in age to Nat and Muki, and once they reach sexual maturity it is hoped that they will be able to pair with a female and have their own families.
The original plan was to move the Kushta family to the training cage in July, then to the acclimatization cage for release in October.  Due to a lack of volunteers these dates have been pushed back to August and late 2010.
Kushta has done well previously in the forest, and there are several young males for her to choose from, as well as several young females for Nat and Muki.  We are confident that all will do well, and are hoping for new gibbon families to be created in the future from this release.

General

School visit

On3rd June 15 students from QSI international school , 20th June 60 students from Ban Chalongl school and Wat ladtivanaram school came to visit the project . We told them about the project and gave them information on the four species of gibbon found in Thailand. We also talked to them about the need to protect the forest and the wild animals living within it. It is important that we give these talks so that we can try to get through to the younger generation and hopefully they will grow up with a better knowledge of the forest and conservation. We hope their understanding about conservation will help protect the forest and that in the future we will not see so many endangered animals.

Volume 9  Issue 4,
April and May, 2010

Gibbon Updates

Blood Tests:
On the 2nd  of May, blood tests were carried out on Epson (a male gibbon),  Chompoo and Balloon (the dusky langur’s) in our quarantine section.
GRP policy is to check all new gibbons for the major blood-borne diseases affecting captive primates including TB, Herpes Simplex and Hepatitis A and B.

Following the tests was good news for Balloon and Chompoo, who were shown to be clean and disease free.  Unfortunately, Epson’s results showed he did not have any diseases, but also did not have any anti-bodies for diseases, thus rendering the test inconclusive.  Epson will be retested in 3 months to see if his body has started to produce anti-bodies.

Deworming:

Between the 18th-20th of May we dewormed all of the gibbons at the quarantine and rehabilitation site as a preventative measure.

Bobo:

Bobo has shown improvement on his special diet. His diet was designed to incorporate more of his favorite fruits such as rambutan and  mangosteen, as well as being supplemented every 3 days with a boiled egg. We are happy to report that he was weighed and his weight increased from 4.3 Kg in March to 4.8 Kg in May. He has maintained 4.8 Kg for one month, a healthy weight for a gibbon his age.

In addintion to his new diet in April, Bobo was also moved to an adjoining cage with Bambam and Songkran. Initially he was showing aggression to the other two by shaking his cage to establish his territory. Fortunately, after a few days to settle in, Bobo was seen trying to make contact with Bambam. He has frequently been seen in the corridor extending his hand to Bambam in an attempt to play, and has also been observed grooming her.  Maybe there is a possibility for Bobo and Bambam to form a pair once Bambam is mature enough.

Nuan and Max

On April 12, 2010 the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project had the joy of welcoming a new member to their gibbon family.  Nuan, with father Max, had given birth to a healthy baby girl subsequently named Maesa.  A few days after birth however, it was apparent that all was not well in their family.  Contrary to normal gibbon behavior of the baby being carried all day by the mother, Nuan was frequently seen abandoning Maesa by hanging her on the fencing, or leaving her lying on the bottom of the cage.  This led to continual crying by Maesa for motherly attention.  After observing the family for one month the difficult decision was made to remove Maesa from Nuan, and have her raised by the staff and volunteers of GRP.  Maesa has been doing well in her new environment, eating and sleeping regularly, and slowly learning gibbon behaviors such as hanging and using her arms for movement.  At three months of age Maesa will start to slowly be introduced to other gibbons, and should be able to be paired up with other gibbons of similar age at six months.  Once she reaches sexual maturity between six and eight years, it is hoped that she will be successfully paired with a male to have a family of her own, and eventually be released into the forest.  Nuan and Max will be given another chance to have a baby who can successfully be raised in the forest.

George and Jonus
After unsuccessfully trying to pair Jonus with Khunsaul we tried to pair her with George.  After observation we have concluded that Jonus and George don’t get along well enough to consider introducing them as a pair. They try to fight between the cage rather than grooming or showing interest in each other.  George has been moved back into a cage with Khunsaul and Champ, and we will try to find a new female for him to pair with.  We plan to move Champ into the adjoining cage with Jonus, who hopefully will be a better match for the picky Jonus.   

Mary
The GRP suffered the loss of Mary who was found lying on the bottom of her cage on the morning of April 24th . Mary had been living with epilepsy since birth. She was on a daily regime of medication, and for the last 2 years had only experienced minor seizures approximately once a month.  Prior to being put on the current medication, Mary suffered much more severe seizures more frequently, and it was thought that this medication was working well.  Her last seizure caused her to stop breathing, and since it occurred at night she was unable to be revived. She will missed by staff and volunteers. The quarantine site will seem especially empty without her usual antics of running around her cage and throwing her food basket on the ground.

Story of Mary
Mary was born at the GRP on the 1st October 2002 by caesarean section, because her mother Pompam was having problems in the late stages of her pregnancy. Sadly, her mother then rejected Mary and she was hand raised by staff and volunteers. She was an energetic, healthy baby with a strong will to survive.  As soon as she was old enough, she was placed into a cage with other gibbons to minimize human contact. It was discovered shortly after that Mary had epilepsy and we therefore had to separate her from the other gibbons in the cage because we found them sitting on her during a seizure.  Mary was housed permanently on her own after that and spent her last days swinging around her cage safely, but still near other gibbons where she could see them and sing with them.

Chompoo
Chompoo’s tail was continually showing improvement, however, on the 27th of May we had to cut her tail a bit more because she had bit it which led to an infection. 

Rescue
On the 5th of May 2010 we received a report that 2 Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina), a mother and baby, had been hit by car at Rang hill in Phuket town. We went immediately to see these monkey’s and to help catch them so that they could receive medical attention.  Sadly, the mother died, but the baby survived.  The baby will be taken care of until healthy, and then released.

On the 9th of May a Pangolin was brought into the project by a concerned villager. This Pangolin had been found near their rubber plantation.  On the 10th we carried the Pangolin up into the Khao Phra Taew Non- Hunting area and released it in the forest far away from potential human interaction.

On the 19th of May we received a report from a villager to go check on a group of  Crab-eating macaques which live in a mangrove forest near the pier in Bang rong Village. This mangrove forest is located only a kilometer away from GRP Head office.  We were informed that a particular macaque was not getting along with the group and was looking weak and unhealthy.  Unfortunately by the time our staff went to investigate she had already died.

Gibbon Families Currently in the Wild

First group .... "Hope Group"

Hope Group (6 gibbons: Joe, Kip, Thong, Hope, Toffee and Omyim)

Story of Hope group

Update

This month the Hope family was found 3 times.  The family was observed interacting with Arun from Arun family in one of these visits.  Thong also returned to his home territory which he usually shies away from, but then once his father Joe returned, Thong left the territory again.  Toffee has also been seen playing frequently with Hope, and the family is looking happy and healthy.

Second group .... "Arun Group"
Arun Group (5 gibbons: Lek, Bank, Arun, Yoge, and Redy)
Story of Arun group 
Update
On the 24th of April we went to observe this group and we found Hope (the juvenile from Hope family) together with Arun.  Yoge then came and might have been jealous of Hope spending time with Arun, as he and Hope have previously been seen having sex.  Yoge and Hope then had sex, with Hope then returing to her territory.  After this, the rest of Arun group came together, and the baby Redy was seen playing with the others.

Third group "Payu Group"
Payu Group (4 gibbons: Payu, Dao, Namthip and Mek (or Newbe))

Story of Payu group
Update
For nearly a month we did not see this group, but on the 25th of May we found all of them in their territory.  Everyone in this group appeared happy and healthy, brachiatting through the canopy and singing with each other.

Fourth group "Jita Group"
Jita group (3 gibbons: Jita, Tony, and Claire)

Story of Jita group
Update

Since the release of this group on the 10th of December 2009, we have continued to feed them daily.  Between March and April there was food left in their basket everyday, and we thus reduced their food from 3 Kg per day to 2.5 Kg per day.  This is an excellent sign, as it shows that the family is becoming more self reliant, and are able to forage food for themselves.  We have also moved their food basket in an attempt to move their territory.  We hope to move their territory to an area where staff who are feeding will be safer from the somewhat aggressive Tony.

Volume 9 Issue 3,
March 2010

Gibbon Updates

Bobo

We have been increasingly concerned about Bobo because he often ignores his food and lately we have noticed he is looking thinner. It is hard to know how much of his food he eats as we have also seen a squirrel taking food from his basket. So this month we weighed him and discovered that he has lost about 4kg. This disinterest in food could be a sign of depression and we would love to be able to pair Bobo up with a female gibbon so that he has some company. For the meantime we will focus on giving him more of the foods that he likes (he tends to prefer fruit over vegetables!) and will monitor his eating.

Sam
This month Sam had some patches of lost fur on his arm. We are not entirely sure what causes this condition, which seems to be ongoing, but we treated it with a medicine called Ivomac which we mixed into his food every 3 days for 7 doses.

Nuan

Right now Nuan is heavily pregnant – she is struggling to move with her very big belly. A Gibbon’s gestation period is around 7-8 months and we think that she is due to give birth very soon. We are very excited about the impending birth of another baby and the potential for a future family to be released into the forest. Nuan has only been with her current partner Max for around 7 months (they didn’t waste anytime in starting their family!)
Nuan was actually released in 2007 with her family - mate Khao and two offspring Payu and Namthip. Sadly she had to be returned to the rehab site soon after Khao’s disappearance in 2008, because she was displaced by Dao (another adult female who joined the group as Payu’s mate.) Hopefully Nuan will have a second chance at life in the wild with her new family.

Cage enrichment and cage maintenance:
This month cage maintenance and enrichment was completed for Nat, Muki, Kushta and Pee Mai’s large cage in our rehabilitation site. We replaced the net on the cage and also focused on improving and changing the environmental enrichment. Hopefully this group will be released sometime this year so we need to encourage them to practice swinging and climbing.

Animal Rescue

On the 4th of March found a tortoise (Elongated Tortoise) around the restaurant at Bang Pae Waterfall. We were afraid that here it was likely someone would see him and take him for food, or that he could get hit by a car. So we removed him and released him further into the Khao Phra Taew Forest the next day.

On the 6thof March a reticulated python was brought into the project by a concerned villager. This Python had been found near human habitation, caught in the act of attacking a duck that belonged to the villager. We carried the snake up into the Khao Phra Taew Non hunting area and released it in the forest far away from potential human interaction.

On the 19th of March staff and volunteers found a Monocellate Cobra living around   our quarantine site. We caught this snake and on the 20th March took it to the Khao Phra Taew forest and released it, again in the hope of avoiding a potentially fatal human interaction.

Gibbon Families Currently in the Wild

First group .... "Hope Group"

Hope Group (6 gibbons: Joe, Kip, Thong, Hope, Toffee and Omyim)

Story of Hope group

Update
This month was found them twice. On the 11th of March at first we saw Hope with Toffee and then about 20 minutes later also saw Thong. On the 25th of March we saw all members of this group in their territory they all looked very healthy and happy.

Second group .... "Arun Group"

Arun Group (5 gibbons: Lek, Bank, Arun, Yoge, and Redy)

Story of Arun group 

Update
On the 5th of March we planned to follow this group, but we did not find any of them. On the 14th we saw Yoge, but on the 31st of March we saw all members of the group together. Again they seem to be doing great in their original territory.

Third group "Payu Group"
Payu Group (4 gibbons: Payu, Dao, Namthip and Mek (or Newbe))

Story of Payu group
Update
All gibbons were seen once and they appear to be doing well. The youngsters were seen spending a lot of time playing and chasing each other through the trees.

Fourth group "Jita Group"
Jita group (3 gibbons: Jita, Tony, and Claire)

Story of Jita group
Update

On the 7th of March one of our volunteers was bitten on her arm. We decided that while this behaviour was in a way normal – as Tony is trying to defend his territory and protect his family – it was too dangerous to spend a full day around the family as we needed to be constantly on guard. For now we continue to feed them each morning and spend some time watching their behaviour before going to check on the other released gibbon groups.

Volume 9  Issue 2,
February 2010

Gibbon Updates

Gibbon weight measurement
This month we weighed all of the young gibbons (Jane, Flick, Beauty, Seagame, Phi Phi and Crystal) in Quarantine again as we did in November 2009. We need to weigh them regularly in order to monitor how they are growing and also to check whether we can consider taking blood tests yet. We would like to test them as soon as we can to determine whether they have any diseases, but all of them are still too small. They need to weigh around 2.5kg for us to be able to safely take the blood test, so we will wait for them to grow up a little bit and in another six months weigh them again.

Nong
Unfortunately Nong’s test results were positive for Herpes Simplex, which is incurable. Sadly, this means Nong will have to remain in captivity for the rest of her life as we cannot risk spreading disease. In Nong’s case we had borrowed her from the Forest department in the hope that she could be paired with one of our single males, but disappointingly there is now no chance for her to be released and we will return her to the care of the forest department.

Mary
Mary suffered another seizure. It has been two months since we witnessed her last seizure in December 2009. She was found lying on the bottom of her cage in the early morning of 15th February, and appeared to be salivating. The seizure lasted for a few minutes, and afterwards she seemed to be fine, although not her normal energetic and playful self. The frequency of the seizures seems to be once a month and Mary remains in Quarantine so that we can keep an eye on her.

Khunsual, Jonus and George
After observation we have concluded that Jonus and Khunsaul don’t get along well enough to consider introducing them as a pair. They try to fight between the cage rather than grooming or showing interest in each other. We decided to try a different combination. Now we have moved Khun Saul back to stay with Champ (another juvenile gibbon who was previously his cagemate) and at the same time we have moved George from the large cage he shared with Champ to the cage adjoining Jonus. We will observe their behavior over the coming months and hope there is a chance they will get along well and form a pair, with the potential of being released in the future.

 New arrival
Chompoo, a female dusky langur was approximately 4 years old when brought to the GRP on the 11th of February. She was brought to our office by WARED staff. Some people kept her as a pet at Chomporn province, and understandably they tried to release Chompoo with the local dusky langur group, but they did not accept her. They were fighting and Chompoo has a lot of cuts on her body, another conservation organization in Chomporn tried to help and eventually brought her to our center in Ranong from where she came to the GRP. When she arrived she looked very weak and we had to monitor her carefully. Luckily she didn’t have any problem with eating and her wounds began to heal. Unfortunately we had to amputate part of her tail as it was badly injured. Now there are three dusky langurs living at the GRP, we have a longterm ambition to work toward repopulating the Khao Phra Taew forest with these leaf eating monkeys.

Animal Rescue

A group of Crab-eating macaques are living in a large density mangrove forest near the pier in Bang rong Village. This mangrove forest is located only a kilometer away from GRP Head office. As there are many ferries and boats leaving from the pier to Phang – Nga Bay many tourists are visiting on a daily basis. Every day several groups of people including tourists are throwing food to the macaques encouraging their bad feeding habits. In the wild, macaques will spend many hours foraging for food. Once they are fed by people their foraging activities become less frequent. Now they come out spending time and waiting near the pier and often they become aggressive toward humans in the area. When these macaques are not being fed they start to become more aggressive and come around the area searching for food. This soon begins to be a problem for both the Macaques and the humans who are more permanently in the area.
Recently there was a conflict between humans and a macaque and unfortunately a juvenile macaque had been trapped in a fishing rope. The rope tightened around his waist and became tight as the body size of the macaque increased. The rope cut across his waist causing a big round wound. Earlier this year many villagers and our rescue team had attempted to capture him to untie the rope but had no luck as he always stayed deep inside the mangrove.
On March 7th the GRP office received a call from a villager explaining that this macaque was out from the mangrove. Our rescue team immediately went in and managed to successfully capture this macaque by using an Anesthetic blowpipe. He was then brought back to our clinic to remove the rope, which had to be cut from him and at the same time he received medical treatment for the wound.
Luckily his wound healed well and he was also back in good condition quickly. On March 9th  the macaque was released back into his group. Once the cage door opened he immediately ran out and jumped in to the mangrove back to his home.

Brahminy kite
On 21st Febuary a man who lives in Cherng Tale brought an injured Brahminy kite to the Khao Prateaw non hunting area office, he said that the kite was found around his house and it looked very weak with a cut on the wing. The forest staff brought the bird to the GRP to look after and then we sent it on to WARED in Ranong to be looked after and hopefully released.

This month we responded to a local call about a python which had been found near human habitation.  After the snake was brought to the project, where it was weighed and photographed, we carried it far up into the forest and released it there away from potential human interaction. 

Gibbon Families Currently in the Wild

First group .... "Hope Group"

Hope Group (6 gibbons: Joe, Kip, Thong, Hope, Toffee and Omyim)

Story of Hope group

Update
The Hope Family have been seen many times this month, we continue to keep an eye on the new baby and the family seems to be doing fine. We also saw Thong just 50 meters from Bang Pae Waterfall.

Second group .... "Arun Group"
Arun Group (5 gibbons: Lek, Bank, Arun, Yoge, and Redy)
Story of Arun group 

Update

The group seem to be doing great in their original territory. Finally we have managed to get a close enough view to determine the gender of Mek as male.

Fourth group "Jita Group"
Jita group (3 gibbons: Jita, Tony, and Claire)

Story of Jita group

Update

Tony is still trying to defend his territory and protect his family – we decided after several incidents that it was too dangerous to spend a full day around the family as we needed to be constantly on guard. For now we continue to feed them each morning and spend some time watching their behaviour. Unfortunately we are low on volunteers at the moment so are not able to carry out the observation plan for this group as regularly as we would like.

General

On 20th February the Thai TV channel called TV Thai came to film and interview the volunteers about the GRP. This company is interested in working on English teaching and wished to speak with our English speaking volunteers. We told them about the project and the gibbon rehabilitation process and also gave them information on the four species of gibbon found in Thailand.

On 4th February 125 student from Kajornkiet Suksa school came to visit the project. We told them about the project and gave them information on the four species of gibbon found in Thailand. We also talked to them about the need to protect the forest and the wild animals living within it. It is important that we give these talks so that we can try to get through to the younger generation and hopefully they will grow up with a better knowledge of the forest and conservation. We hope their understanding about conservation will help protect the forest and that in the future we will not see so many endangered animals.

Volume 9 Issue 1,
January 2010

Gibbon Updates

Blood Tests: On the 19th January, blood tests were carried out on Nong (a female gibbon) and Jackie Chan (a dusky langur) in our quarantine section.
GRP policy is to check all new gibbons for the major blood-borne diseases affecting captive primates including TB, Herpes Simplex and Hepatitis A and B.
Following the tests was good news for Jackie Chan, who was shown to be clean and disease free.  Unfortunately Nong’s results were positive for Herpes Simplex, which is incurable, as we cannot release any diseased gibbons because of the risk they will spread the infection, we will now have to return her to the forest department. We had borrowed her from the forest department in the hope that she could be paired with one of our single males, forming a family with a chance to be released eventually, so were disappointed and saddened to learn these test results. 

Kushta, Pee Mai, Nat and Muki

Kushta has been through a lot in her life – while at the GRP she has experienced tragedy with the loss of two of her mates and offspring. Two of her babies who were born in captivity became sick and died. In 2006 she was released with her mate Bozo and her third baby, Nat. Unfortunately Bozo went missing just days after the release, resulting in the decision to bring Kushta and Nat back to the rehabilitation site as they could not stay in the forest on their own.

Once Nat was old enough, we separated him from his mother to join fellow play mates BamBam and Songkran, where he lived for several years.  He has recently been returned to a cage adjoining Kushta’s which he shares with Muki. After we separated Nat, Kushta was paired with another male, Mai who had also tragically lost his partner and baby to a Python shortly before they were due to be released.

Kushta and Mai got on well together and in January 2009 Kushta gave birth to a fourth baby in captivity, Pee Mai. Unfortunately, a few months later we noticed something was wrong. Mai was almost completely blind – while it may have been gradual we realized he had lost his sight. In May 2009 we decided to move him to quarantine to observe his condition but this meant the family was separated.

As mentioned above, Nat and his playmate Muki have been living in the large cage adjoining the cage inhabited by Kushta and Pee mai since July 2009. We have been observing their behavior and as they have all been showing a lot of interest in each other, spending time sitting together, grooming and playing through the corridor between the two cages. Over the past month we have been opening the gate between the cages for short periods of time while we have someone present. We believe this is working well and while Pee Mai is still a little scared of older brother Nat, Muki is often seen protecting and caring for Pee Mai. Although this group does not consist of a breeding pair, there is great hope that we can release Kushta, Pee Mai, Nat and Muki as a family unit in the near future.

Cage enrichment and cage maintenances:

With the help of a group of ISV students (International Student volunteers), we finished laying the cement floor for Santi and Lamut’s cage – this will enable us to easily clean the cage of this pair which is located far up the slope of our rehabilitation site. This month maintenance and enrichment was also done for Annie and AyeAye’s cage. Maintenance of some of the other cages was also completed – including adding new wiremesh to replace some older ones that were rusting.

Animal Rescue

On the night of the 16th January 2010, “Tone” a 5 or 6 year old, male Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina) was brought to the GRP clinic for observation. This Macaque has been trained by his owner and used to collect coconuts from high up in coconut trees. For unknown reasons Tone had fallen from a tree and hurt his leg in the process.
The owner Jum Noong took Tone to a vet in Phuket Town, where he received an injection to stop him going into shock. The vet, who was not an expert in primates, recommended that the monkey be brought to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, where Dr. Tum (an expert in treating primates) could examine and try treating him.
He arrived at the GRP clinic at 8.20pm and was administered with medicine that night by Dr. Tum. We kept him in a small size cage, both for observations and in case medicine was required to be administered again.
The macaque stayed in the quarantine area of the GRP on the 17th, 18th, and the morning of the 19th for observation. By the morning of the 19th although his leg was still obviously painful, he had regained the strength to eat normally again, and was able to return to his owner.

On the 17th of January 2010, some of the villagers from the Bang Rong community called the GRP for help rescuing a Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina). The male Macaque named “Dang”, had again been trained to help the villagers to collect coconuts from high up in the coconut palms. Unfortunately for his owners he had bitten through the loop of his rope and escaped on the 15th of January.
After discussing the problem with the macaque’s owner, we came to the conclusion that tranquilizing the escaped monkey would be the best option.  Mon and Yan went to the coconut palms where “Dang” was, he was seen to be very scared as the local dogs kept barking at him when he tried to come down.  Mon and Yan equipped with a blowpipe and a mild tranquilizer, managed to dart the Macaque in the leg. This mild tranquilizer was used just to weaken the Macaque and not make him sleep, which could proved fatal at such a height.
When the Macaque was sedated one of the local villagers climbed the tree to rescue “Dang”, by tying a rope around him. The Macaque was then lowered down back to the safety of his owner. Fortunately the only side effect of this escape was that Dang was hungry after having spent a couple of nights up in the trees.

On the 18th of January 2010, an Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongata) was brought to GRP by a concerned person who had found it in the Kathu district. The rescuer knew that people eat this particular species, and knew that if found would probably end up being cooked. He bought it to us because he knew that we not only rehabilitate gibbons but also sometimes release native species back to the forest.
The Elongated Tortoise is endangered and this is mainly due to the large supply of it in the Asian food market, it is illegal to be used as a food source but unfortunately it is still recorded as the most common tortoise shipped to the Chinese food trade. The other major cause of its endangered category is the destruction of much of its habitat.
Luckily its habitat, which covers such a wide range (India to Borneo), is readily available in Khao Phra Thaeo Non-hunting area. As an omnivore its diet consists mainly of fruits, leafy greens, worms and slugs.  On the 22nd of January 2010, we happily released it into the national forest where it will have a chance to live safely.

On the night of the 26th January 2010 we received a report that a Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina) had been hit by car in Phuket town. We went immediately to see this monkey and brought him back to the project. However he was severely injured – our vet diagnosed a damaged spinal cord and and sadly he died 2 days later from a secondary infection.

Gibbon Families Currently in the Wild

First group .... "Hope Group"

Hope Group (6 gibbons: Joe, Kip, Thong, Hope, Toffee and Omyim)

Story of Hope group
We released the first group of gibbons (Joe; adult male, Kip; adult female and Thong; sub adult male offspring, born at Rehabilitation Site) on the 5th October 2002, and the female, Kip, gave birth to a female baby, who we named "Hope" on the 21st October 2002. On the 26th October 2006, during routine observation, our staff and volunteer discovered that Kip had recently given birth to her third female baby, who we named "Toffee". We estimate Toffee’s date of birth as the 21st of October.
Update

On the 30th of December 2009 our staff were pleased to discover that Kip had given birth again to a male who we have named “Omyim”. This was a great new year present and reason to celebrate! We also attempted to observe this group once this month they all appear to be healthy and doing well in the forest. On 10th of January we found Yoge came to play and spend sometime with Hope.

Second group .... "Arun Group"
Arun Group (5 gibbons: Lek, Bank, Arun, Yoge, and Redy)
Story of Arun group 
The second group (Bo; adult male, Lek; adult female, Dao; juvenile female offspring and Arun; Male offspring, both born at the Rehabilitation Site) was released on the 15th August 2003. Unfortunately, Bo repeatedly returned to the rehabilitation site. After several attempts to reintroduce him back to his family in the forest we decided that he would remain at the rehabilitation site for the foreseeable future. This left Lek alone with the two offspring, but under observation all three seemed to be doing very well in the wild on their own. After some time, the three were joined by two other gibbons that belonged to a subsequent release that had failed (Yoge group), Yoge and Sabai. In the beginning Yoge group was doing well in the forest; the family tended to stay together and move around the forest looking for trees bearing food. Bird, the adult male, showed signs of aggressive behavior. He attacked one of our volunteers and came very close to at least two others.  He was afraid of the Thai staff and tended only to be interested in attacking females. We decided to use a sling shot like with Bo and his behavior seemed to improve. The rest of the family has little to no interest in us aside from feeding time.On the 18th of December 2004 Bird went missing, and although he was seen again on the 21st December, on the 21st February 2005 he disappeared again and has not been seen since. After Bird went missing, the rest of the family seemed to be doing well, until the mother, Pompam also went missing on the 1st of December 2005. We concluded that something bad had happened and much to our dismay our worries were confirmed when we discovered her skull and some other bones and fur in the forest lying next to some gun cartridges on the 17th of March 2006. She had been poached and eaten. We were obviously concerned for the safety of her two offspring, Yoge and Sabai, but allowed them to remain in the forest for the time being under observation. On the 7th February 2006 we released two juvenile males, Khan Ngean and Bank, who had been living at a resort in Khao Lak. Sabai and Yoge were seen playing with these two while they were still in the Acclimatization cage and it was hoped they would stay together. Sadly Khan Ngean became ill soon after the release and had to be bought back to the clinic for treatment, however he died several days later due to intestinal complications. We suspected that Yoge and Bank had joined with the Arun group after staff observed them playing with Dao on the 11th February 2006. We can happily confirm that Bank has formed a breeding pair with Lek and on the 20th November 2007 we discovered that she had given birth to a baby. Unfortunately, though, the baby did not survive, as we discovered four days later that Lek was no longer carrying the infant, and concluded that it had died of three possible causes: either it had been taken by a predator, such as a python or a bird, had been dropped by Lek-which is possible as her previous offspring were born in cages, where they would not be harmed if dropped-or that the baby was simply too weak to survive. On the 17th of February 2006 we were unable to find Sabai. She was finally traced on the 18th March in a different part of the forest. Staff brought her back to the acclimatization cage in Arun territory. However during the night, the females from the Arun group, Lek and Dao fought with Sabai through the cage and left her with serious wounds on her arms and hands. We had to bring Sabai back to the clinic for veterinary treatment. As the other females had rejected her, we made the decision to keep Sabai at our rehabilitation site rather than leave her in the forest alone. Attempts were made, unsuccessfully, to pair Sabai with a mate. Shortly after her return to the Rehabilitation Site, Sabai tragically died of Pneumonia.On the 25th of September 2008, Lek (with Bank the father) gave birth to her second male baby, who we named "Reddy". He is the fourth gibbon born in Khao Phra Theaw Non-hunting Area since we began releasing the gibbons back to this forest (2002). Now he is 1 year old and starting to display some independence from his mother, often venturing out of her arms for short periods but still under her watchful eye.
Update
We attempted to observe this group this month, but have not seen any of the members of this family, although we often hear them singing.

Third group "Payu Group"
Payu Group (4 gibbons: Payu, Dao, Namthip and Mek (or Newbe))

Story of Payu group
This group (Khao; adult male, Nuan; adult female, Payu; juvenile male offspring and Namthip; infant female, both born at the Rehabilitation Site) were first released on the 7th of June 2007 in commemoration of the King Thailand who celebrated his 80th birthday in the same year. However it soon became apparent that the Arun group were clashing over territory with the Payu group, as they fought shortly after we opened the door of the acclimatization cage, which resulted in Nuan dropping her baby, Namthip. This meant that we had to find a new territory for the group, much further away. We rereleased them into the new territory in October 2007, and they appeared to be doing well for a year. On the 29th of October 2008 Khao went missing, and although he was seen once again on the 5th of November, he disappeared again on the 6th of November 2008 and has not been seen since. The other three members remained in the forest and seemed to be doing okay without the Male. On the 15th December 2008, Dao was found in Payu ’s territory playing with Payu and Namthip. Nuan was found not far from the group, she was sitting on the ground and she seemed weak and injured, unable to use her right hand for swinging at all. We concluded that she may have had a fight with Dao, as Dao had taken her place in the group, pairing up with Payu. We decided to catch her and bring her back to the rehabilitation site to treat the injury, and when fully recovered attempt to pair with another male. She is now living with Max and we are expecting her to give birth very soon (January 2010) we hope that this family can be released in the future. Payu, Dao and Namthip joined and formed a new group, still called Payu Group. This group has been doing well and we stopped the Supplemental feeding on the 7th of June 2009. On the 20th December 2009 our staff went to check on Payu group while on a routine feeding trip and found that Dao had just given birth to a baby who we have named Newbe-Mek.
Update
We only had enough time for one observation day this month. The group seem to be doing great without any of our help.

Fourth group "Jita Group"
Jita group (3 gibbons: Jita, Tony, and Claire)

Story of Jita group
Jita Group (Tony; adult male, Jita; adult female and Claire; female infant) was moved into the acclimatization cage on the 29th November 2009.However it seems that this group was eager to be free and did not want to wait for our planned release date. On the 4th of December when our staff went to feed the group they discovered the cage was empty - Tony had bitten through the mesh and the family had escaped! As we were not fully prepared for the release and follow up, we managed to entice Jita and Claire back inside the cage using food. Tony remained free but always stayed in the trees close to his family.
On the 10th December 2009, staff and volunteers trekked up to the release site and while Tony watched we opened the door of the cage. Jita hardly even hesitated before taking Claire and confidently exiting the cage, heading toward the food basket.
Update

Tony is still trying to defend his territory and protect his family – we decided after several incidents that it was too dangerous to spend a full day around the family as we needed to be constantly on guard. For now we continue to feed them each morning and spend some time watching their behaviour.

General

Special visitors to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP), Phuket
On the morning of the 21st of January we were pleased to welcome a party of interested visitors to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, GRP and Khao Phra Thaew. This group had travelled to Phuket representing Bhutan’s Department of Forests and Park services, and included its director Karma Dukpa.
Bhutan is a small country but is fortunate to have a lot of remaining forest. This Himalayan country has 3 distinct zones (subtropical, temperate and alpine) and therefore a diverse range of wildlife. Lhendup Tharchen, the coordinator of several of Bhutan’s conservation programmes told us a little about the situation there, one rehabilitation facility for wildlife exists but is there mainly in order to look after injured animals, apparently there is not such a problem with illegal hunting.
We explained to the visitors the aims and methods of the gibbon project and discussed the work we are doing here and why it is necessary. We also spoke about the forest itself, the need to study it and the long term goals of the GRP for involving the community in conservation.

School visit
On 14th January 2010 309 students from Dara Smoth school came to visit the project. We told them about the project and gave them information on the four species of gibbon found in Thailand. We also talked to them about the need to protect the forest and the wild animals living within it. It is important that we give these talks so that we can try to get through to the younger generation. Hopefully they will grow up with a better knowledge of the forest and conservation. We hope their understanding about conservation will help protect the forest and that in the future we will not see so many endangered animals.

Volume 8 Issue 10,

December 2009

Gibbon Updates

George
George had a wound on his left foot, probably from fighting with his cagemate Champ. Although it wasn’t too serious we treated him with an antibiotic to prevent infection. The medicine we used was Sialexin syrup which we mixed into his gibbon ball or inside a piece of fruit for a week. Now his foot has healed and he is back to his normal antics.

Khunsaul
Khunsaul was moved back to his original cage, next to Jonus at our rehabilitation site after spending sometime in quarantine, being treated for a sore on his knee. We think this sore was caused by an allergic reaction to an insect bite.

Jonus and Khunsaul
After observation we have concluded that Jonus and Khunsaul don’t get along well enough to consider introducing them as a pair. They try to fight between the cage rather than grooming or showing interest in each other. For now they remain in adjoining cages but we plan to try a new combination - and find a different female for Khunsaul and a different male for Jonus as soon as we can.

Mary
Mary suffered another seizure in Quarantine. She was found lying on the bottom of her cage, and appeared to be salivating. The seizure lasted for a few minutes, and afterwards she seemed to be fine although not her normal energetic and playful self. The frequency of the seizures seems to be once a month.

New arrival

Nong: (♀ White-handed Gibbon: Hylobates lar) On the 15th December Nong arrived at the GRP. She had previously been kept as a pet in Ranong, before her owners handed her in to the forest department. She is currently living in our quarantine area while awaiting a blood test to check for disease. A problem at the moment is that we have more juvenile male gibbons than females. So we are are cooperating with the forest department and they have agreed to let us borrow Nong in the hope that she can be paired up with one of our males. If she is found to be free of disease and can form a suitable pair then she will have the chance to be released eventually.

Gibbon Families Currently in the Wild

Jita group (3 gibbons: Jita, Tony, and Claire)

We planned to release this group on the 10th December. On November 29th we moved them into the acclimatisation cage, which is a cage suspended in the trees off the ground. The idea of the acclimatization cage is to get them used to their surroundings and encourage them to stay high up, in the canopy of the trees which is where they spend their time in the wild.
However it seems that this group was eager to be free and did not want to wait for our planned release date. On the 4th of December when our staff went to feed the group they discovered the cage was empty – Tony had bitten through the mesh and the family had escaped! As we were not fully prepared for the release and follow up, we managed to entice Jita and Claire back inside the cage using food. Tony remained free but always stayed in the trees close to his family.
On the 10th of December staff and volunteers trekked up to the release site and while Tony watched we opened the door of the cage. Jita hardly even hesitated before taking Claire and confidently exiting the cage, heading toward the food basket.
After a release it is normal for Staff and Volunteers to spend all day every day in the forest following the released gibbons. The released gibbons will continue to be provided with supplementary food until we are sure they are able to find enough food on their own. We also spend time doing observation to check on their behaviour and generally make sure they are healthy and adapting well to life in the forest.
However with this family we had to change our plans as Tony was displaying a lot of aggression towards the observers. On the 14th of December one of the volunteers was bitten on her upper back and then on the 24th of December a staff member was also bitten several times. We decided that while this behaviour was in a way normal – as Tony is trying to defend his territory and protect his family – it was too dangerous to spend a full day around the family as we needed to be constantly on guard. For now we continue to feed them each morning and spend some time watching their behaviour before going to check on the other released gibbon groups.

Payu Group (3 gibbons: Payu, Dao, Namthip)
Dao gave birth to a baby on 20th December. We have named him Newbe. The two staff that were feeding Jita group had continued into Payu group territory to see if they could find any of the gibbons and were privileged to see Newbe being born. As this family always remains high in the trees we are unable to tell yet whether Newbe is male or female.

Arun Group (5 gibbons: Lek, Bank, Arun, Yoge, and Redy)
Arun group was observed on one occasion this month. All gibbons were seen and appear to be doing well. The youngsters spent a lot of time playing and chasing each other through the trees.

Hope Group (5 gibbons: Joe, Kip, Thong, Hope, and Toffee)

This is the first group that we released back on the 5th October 2002. Soon after their release, on the 21st October 2002, Kip gave birth to a female baby who we named "Hope". Then on 26th October 2006 during observation our staff and volunteers discovered that Kip had given birth to her third female baby, who we named "Toffee" We can give an educated estimate of the date of Toffee's birth as around the 21st October 2006. Hope is now 7 years old, and is thriving though her adolescence. Toffee is 3 years old and is displaying increasing independance from her mother but still remains under her watchful eye. Thong the oldest child, is almost 10 years old has now reached sexual maturity, he is spending less time with his family group and is ready to find a mate of his own.This December our staff realised that Kip was again Pregnant and she gave birth just in time for the new year. On the 30th December 2009 our staff discovered that she had given birth to a boy and we decided to name him "Omyim" which means both smile and lollipop in Thai. After the early christmas present of the discovery of Dao's baby Newbe this was like an early New Year present and Staff and volunteers are overjoyed at all the good news from the gibbons in the forest.

General

The ISV (International Student Volunteers) group came to help us this month. They undertook various tasks to help improve the rehabilitation site, including clearing the area and laying the cement for a new water tank at rehabilitation site, building more steps, putting more blocks under the gibbon cages and gibbon observation. ISV volunteers also hiked up into the forest and spent a day doing gibbon observation and helped us with a leaflet drop.

Leaflet Drop
Leaflet Drop
On the 19th December we did a leaflet drop at a different location from the last time. We visited the villages around Khao Phra Taew forest where we release the gibbons, to speak to people and hand out leaflets about the Project. We would like to try to educate them on the benefits of conserving the environment in which they are living, and to help them understand what we are trying to do, and what they can do to help.

School visit
On 8th December 48 student from Pluk Punya school , 14th December 35 student from British international school and on 29th December 200 students from Tesban Muang Phuket school came to visit the project on 10th December. We told them about the project and gave them information on the four species of gibbon found in Thailand. We also talked to them about the need to protect the forest and the wild animals living within it. It is important that we give these talks so that we can try to get through to the younger generation and hopefully they will grow up with a better knowledge of the forest and conservation. We hope their understanding about conservation will help protect the forest and that in the future we will not see so many endangered animals.

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