Volunteer
Related Topic GRP Standard Operating Procedure
1. Quarantine and Rehabilitation site
-Food preparation
-Feeding
-Cage maintenance, clean and enrichment
-Observation
2. Reintroduction site
-Forest feeding
-Mapping and trail maintenance
-Follow up and data collection
3. Conservation education and fund-raising
4. Other
If you wish to volunteer, contact volunteer@warthai.org
Routine Work
1. Quarantine and Rehabilitation site:
The gibbons are fed a mixture of leaves, vegetables and fruits. The food is delivered every other day from the local fruit and vegetable market. When we receive the food we need to divide it for the two sites. Before feeding it to the gibbons all the food is washed thoroughly. This removes any traces of fertilizers or other residues that may be harmful to the gibbons. It will then be cut into pieces small enough for it to fit through the bars of the cage and divided into carrying baskets. We have different carrying baskets for the gibbons with different diseases, so we can reduce the likelihood of the diseases spreading. Up
We feed the gibbons twice a day. The first feeding is at 6.30 in the morning and is mainly leaves and vegetables. We then feed them fruits after lunch. At the same time we give them fresh water. The majority of the cages have long distance feeding systems, so volunteers place the food in baskets and then use ropes to pull the basket close to the cage. At our rehabilitation site we also have water systems on a number of the cages, which mean that we can turn on taps to fill up the water bottles. Both of these systems mean that people do not need to get close to the cages and help us to keep human involvement with these gibbons to a minimum. Up
Cage maintenance, cleaning and enrichment
Everyday duties at both our quarantine and rehabilitation site also involve cleaning and maintaining the cages. Gibbons are naturally very clean animals with all their faeces and waste food dropping to the forest floor far below them. It is therefore important for us to keep their living environment as clean as possible. It also helps prevent them getting illnesses. Everyday all the faeces and old food is removed from the cage and the ground underneath it. We also regularly clean their food baskets and water holders. Staff and volunteers complete any maintenance work that is required at the two sites. This may include building new cages, building steps, fixing holes in cages and enriching the cages. We try to provide places in the cages for the gibbons to sit or sleep, as well as ropes and swings that will provide them with entertainment and keep them active. The gibbons favourite activity is to destroy these enrichments so they regularly need replaced! Up
Observation: health check, vaginal check
An important aspect of looking after the gibbons is carrying out health checks and observations. In this way we can monitor the health and the progress of the gibbons through the rehabilitation process. Everyday volunteers will complete a health check on all our gibbons. This involves checking their faeces and then checking there are no problems with their eyes, fur, limbs etc. At the same time volunteers will record the female gibbon's vagina scores. Females have a reproductive cycle where the size of the vagina increases and decreases during the month. By recording the size of the vagina, and if the gibbon is menstruating, we can check if the female has reached sexual maturity and see if she is pregnant. We also carry out observations on the gibbons. These may be done for a number of reasons for example, if the gibbon is sick, if we are trying to pair two gibbons or if we are trying to choose a family for release. The observations mean that we record what the gibbon is doing every two minutes for an hour. This can show us what activities the gibbons are doing, where they are in their cage and how they interact with other gibbons. If we would like even more details on the gibbons we will observe them for a whole day. In this case two volunteers will record what the gibbons are doing every five minutes from 6.30 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon when the gibbons will be going to sleep. Up
We follow a soft release policy with our gibbons, which means that we continue to feed them after they have been released into the forest. We feed the gibbons until they are able to find enough food for themselves. A member of staff and volunteers will go into the forest every day to feed the released gibbons. We feed them sour fruits similar to the ones they can find in the forest. These are placed in food baskets which are on ropes attached to the trees, so we can lift the food high up into the trees. This feeding also gives us the opportunity to check the gibbons are ok. Up
In order to accurately follow and record the location of the gibbons we have developed a map and grid system in the forest. Each family of gibbons we release requires an area for its territory. We need to map and record the territories of each group so we know where we can release a new group. Once we have chosen a family for release we prepare their territory by cutting trails in a grid system and placing tree markers. We can then record where the gibbons are within these areas when we are doing observations. The plants in the forest grow very quickly so our trails are often grown over, so staff and volunteers regularly have to go in to clear these and maintain the existing tracks. Up
We collect follow-up data after we have released the gibbons. This is to make sure they are ok, to record how they behave in the forest and to help us to improve rehabilitation techniques in the future. When they are first released staff and volunteers will go into the forest every day and carry out observations on the gibbons. As the gibbons get used to their surroundings these observation days will be reduced and once we feel that they are fully rehabilitated we will stop observing them. Observations start early in the morning when the gibbons will be waking up and continue until the gibbons are asleep in the late afternoon. Staff and volunteers will enter the forest before it gets light and will try to find the gibbons in their sleeping trees. From here they will then follow the gibbons for the rest of the day, recording what they are doing. Each observation day will have a focal gibbon, whose activities will be recorded every 2 minutes. A second observer will record what all the gibbons are doing every 10 minutes. In this way we record where the gibbons are in the forest, how high they are in the trees, what they are doing, how they interact with each other and what they are eating. We record what trees they eat from and what food they are eating. This often involves us taking photos and bringing back samples of the fruits they are eating, so that we can properly identify them.Up
3. Conservation Education and Fund-Raising
Volunteers work a number of days a week at our Centre for conservation, education and fundraising. Here they give informative tours to members of the public. The desk is open from 9am until 4pm and volunteers spend the day talking to tourist and selling a variety of merchandise. We try to educate tourists about the problems gibbons face and encourage them not to support gibbons being used in captivity. As well as to invite them to make donations to the project because we rely on the money we raise at our centre to continue our work. Up
Volunteers may also be asked to help with other aspects of the projects work. This could include anything from teaching English in the local primary school, to doing leaflet drops around the beaches and helping to put on exhibitions about the project. They may also be involved in office work, which may include answering emails, writing letters and writing proposals. Up
Do Not Groom Gibbons!
“It has been found that physical or emotional contact between keepers and gibbons can be more damaging than beneficial. The arms of gibbons are very long and they are well known to habitually reach their arms through the cage and fencing and remove handfuls of the keeper's hair, so BE WARNED. Gibbons are also found to be highly “jealous” primate species, and suffer greatly if attention is given to them at one time, but not at other times. Human attention has also been observed to cause serious fights between mated pairs when attention was given more to one than another.”AAZPA (American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums), 1984: For your own safety and so that the gibbons become less dependent on humans, we enforce minimum contact with the animals. Once a gibbon is in an enclosure it will begin to socialize with its fellow mates and should not depend on humans for grooming and affection. Successful rehabilitation depends on this policy.Note: When the gibbons arrive at the project our main concern is to not cause them too much stress. This may mean, for example, that a gibbon that has been in captivity for a long period of time has not had any contact with any other gibbon and has been completely dependent on humans for affection. He or she may require some attention by the volunteers in the initial stages to allow the relocation to be less stressful. Gibbons are very social primates, and at some times interaction with humans is necessary, but only in certain circumstances and for limited periods.Do not forget this animal has long arms and split second reflexes. When in hair pulling range or finger munching distance of an aggressive animal.
KEEP EYE CONTACT - DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON THEM…OR ELSE!
