reference

       It's been almost 9 years since the first family group was released into the Khao Phra Taew Forest. The gibbon reintroduction program has been involved in following up, to help the new released gibbons and ensure they have the best possible chance of thriving in the wild. Staff and volunteer continue to provide food until it is judged that the gibbons no longer need it, and are constantly involved in monitoring in all aspects of their new life in the wild. This includes checking on health condition, ranging, social behaviors - both in their family group and to the resident family groups, interaction with any member of the Khao Phra Thaew ecosystem such as predators, prey, diet, poachers and also the attitudes of people who have activities or involvement in our project and the forest. 

	Prof. Warren Y. Brockelman, Ecology Laboratory, BIOTEC Central Research Unit and Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Salaya. (K0035 @Manoon Pliosungnoen)

       Therefore the work pushes us to practice, learn and know "how to send them back home the right way" with the suggestions from our advisor - Professor Warren Y. Brockelman, who we would like to thank. Right now we strongly believe gibbon reintroduction into their natural habitat can succeed even it is not easy. For gibbons, success should be measured by (1) foraging success (2) survival post-release (i.e., finding suitable food), (3) sociobiology, intragroup and intergroup social interactions (4) fertility and survival of the offspring, and the GRP gibbons have succeeded in all these criteria.

       However long-term monitoring will determine if this success will contribute to population growth and establishing a self-sustaining population. We have been concerned that the most dangerous predator is man, because this forest has been encountering a poaching problem, like other areas, and several illegal hunting and gathering activities are being carried out. This is one of the main reasons that we are trying to set up the "Khao Phra Thaew ecological sustainability project".

     
Wildlife and aquatic animal survey with the Siamensis Naturalist Group in National Parks and other wild places of southern Thailand. (K0036, K0037 @Suwit Punnadee)

     
Together with Montri Sumontha, a reptile specialist of Thailand, inspecting then freeing a Blood python back to the wild, and resting along a wildlife survey trip with Surachit Waengsothorn, a wildlife specialist from Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR). (K0038 @Phamon Sumphanthamitr; K0039 @Suwit Punnadee)

      Moreover during our work with the gibbons in the forest, we are also faced with a variety of interesting and highly biodiverse lifeforms. We have been motivated to learn more about the ecosytem and its inhabitants, curious to know more about behavior, ecology, status etc. Along the way non-invasive methods have been employed to study, and we have been sharing information and experiences and organising field trips with a range of friendly specialists, such as Siamensis Naturalist Group (http://www.siamensis.org/index.htm), Dr Piya Chalermglin, Simon Gardner, Montri Sumontha, Surachit Waengsothorn, Tanawat Chaowasku etc. Their input has been valuable and helped to provide us with improved knowledge and the source of some of the information as published in our webpage, so we would like to thank these advisers. However if anyone reading this finds any inaccuracies or believes information to be incorrect, please contact us as we would greatly appreciate your feedback or suggestions. For taxonomy issues it would be good if we have a chance to discuss in further detail. Flora is a motionless life and we know where specific plants are sited in the area, so it is easy to find species and discuss related issues. This is in contrast to the fauna that is always moving along their range, and may be difficult to find except for some of the most common species.

     
       Dinner time at botanist camp in Khlong Naka Wildlife Sanctuary, and in a temporary kitchen of the Wild Animal Rescue and Education center, Ranong Province with the flora specialist including Simon Gardner, Pinda Sittisunthon and Knema. (K0040 @Manoon Pliosungnoen; K0041 @Suwit Punnadee)

       Apart from the real conservation tasks and scientific problems, we also face bureaucracy and politics both in Thailand and on an international level. There are existing arguments against gibbon rehabilitation and reintroduction issues and this idea is not new. Unfortunately many people who do not agree with the practise of reintroduction or have formed a negative image from the past, continuously attempt to discredit our work. Some object to, or even try to stop, our conservation efforts, without opening their minds to the possibility that we have now proven the potential and longterm success of reintroduced gibbons here. Many campuses and primatologists, will only accept information from an article which has been published in a famous scientific journal, ignoring any successful results evident in practice.

Maybe more than one conservation philosophy and method is needed to preserve the natural resources and environment of our planet. Even now nobody really knows which way is the best to meet its conservation objectives, so why not keep an open mind and work together? After practising gibbon rehabilitation and reintroduction in the Khao Phra Thaew forest for almost 9 years, we think it is now an ideal time to start writing an article on gibbon reintroduction and also other issues relating to the conservation of the rain forest. We would welcome all who wish to visit and give their input or improve our work. Sincere thanks to the website www.gibbonproject.com for help in promoting our project and Susan M. Cheyne, who has been involved in gibbon reintroducion in Indonesia (http://www.kalaweit.org), for mentioning our work in many published articles such as "Cheyne SM, 2009. The Role of Reintroduction in Gibbon Conservation: Opportunities and Challenges. In: The Gibbons: New Perspectives on Small Ape Socioecology and Population Biology (Lappan SM, Whittaker DL, Geissmann T, eds): Karger." etc.

    Also special thanks to Nontaya Krairiksh, Sharon and Ken Higgins, Joanne Drake, Isak Herman, and Laura Michelle Bergner for co-writing and English proof reading; our friends who provided photographs included as a full name with each photo credit; and Saul Jones for providing illustrations.

                                                                                                    Suwit Punnadee
 E-mail: tum@gibbonproject.org                                               Phuket, Thailand, December 2009

 

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