Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T13:20:08.354Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A glut of gibbons in Sarawak – is rehabilitation the answer?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Jane Bennett
Jane Bennett
Affiliation:
Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252C, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Bornean gibbons Hylobates muelleri are protected by law in Sarawak, but their habitat is being destroyed, they are illegally hunted, and they are captured for the pet trade. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre at Semengok Forest Reserve, which is run by the National Parks and Wildlife Office of the Sarawak Forest Department, receives confiscated gibbons and those surrendered by the general public. Between October 1976 and June 1988,122 gibbons were received and 87 were subsequently released. The rate of survival was unknown until the author organized a survey of the forest at Semengok in 1988. It revealed that about 90 per cent of the gibbons did not survive long after release. The author discusses the reasons for this high mortality rate, the shortcomings of rehabilitation as a conservation tool, the problems facing the conservation authorities, and options for dealing with confiscated primates.

Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , July 1992 , pp. 157 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1992

References

Bennett, E.L., Caldecott, J.O., Kavanagh, M. and Sebastian, A.C. 1985. Conservation status of Sarawak's primates. Sarawak Gazette, 111, 30–34.Google Scholar
Berkson, G., Ross, B.A. and Jatinandana, S. 1971. The social behaviour of gibbons in relation to a conservation program. In Primate Behaviour: Developments in Field and Laboratory Research (ed. Rosenblum, L. A.), Vol. 2 pp. 225–255. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brockelman, W.Y., Ross, B.A. and Pantuwatana, S. 1973. Social correlates of reproductive success in the gibbon colony on Ko Klet Kaeo, Thailand. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop., 38, 637–640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brockelman, W.Y., Ross, B.A. and Pantuwatana, S. 1974. Social interactions of adult gibbons (Hylobates lar) in an experimental colony. In Gibbon and Siamang (ed. Rumbaugh, D. M.), Vol. 3. Karger, Basel.Google Scholar
Caldecott, J.O. 1988. Hunting and Wildlife Management in Sarawak. The IUCN Tropical Forest Programme, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Chivers, D.J. 1980. (ed.) Malayan Forest Primates: Ten Years Study in Tropical Rain Forest. Plenum Press, New York and London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chivers, D.J. and Raemaekers, J.J. 1980. Long term changes in behaviour. In Malayan Forest Primates: Ten Years Study in Tropical Rain Forest (ed. Chivers, D. J.). Plenum Press, New York and London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellefson, J.O. 1974. A natural history of white-hand- ed gibbons in the Malayan peninsula. In Gibbon and Siamang (ed. Rumbaugh, D. M.), Vol. 3. Karger, Basel.Google Scholar
Gittins, S.P. 1984. Territorial advertisement and defence in gibbons. In The Lesser Apes – Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology (eds Preuschoft, H., Chivers, D. J., Brockelman, W. Y. and Creel, N.). Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Gittins, S.P. and Raemaekers, J.J. 1980. Siamang, lar and agile gibbons. In Malayan Forest Primates: Ten Years Study in Tropical Rain Forest (ed. Chivers, D. J.). Plenum Press, New York and London..Google Scholar
Gittins, S.P. and Tilson, R.L. 1984. Notes on the ecology and behaviour of the hoolock gibbon. In The Lesser Apes-Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology (eds Preuschoft, H., Chivers, D. J., Brockelman, W. Y. and Creel, N.). Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Harcourt, A.H. 1987. Options for unwanted or confiscated primates. Primate Conservation, 8, 111–113.Google Scholar
Harrisson, T. 1966. The gibbon in West Borneo folk- lore and augury. Sar. Mus. Journ. XIV, 428–429 (NS); 132–145.Google Scholar
IUCN. 1986. 1986 Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Kappeler, M. 1984. Vocal bouts and territorial main- tenance in the moloch gibbon. In The Lesser Apes – Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology (eds. Preuschoft, H., Chivers, D. J., Brockelman, W. Y. and Creel, N.). Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Kavanagh, M. 1986. The threatened mammals of Sarawak. In Reports and Recommendations to DUN Select Committee on Flora and Fauna in Sarawak. Part 1.Google Scholar
Lee, B. 1984. Semengok Forest Reserve. Family Tree, 2, 11–13.Google Scholar
Leighton, D.R. 1986. Gibbons: Territoriality and Monogamy. In Primate Societies (eds Smuts, B. B., Cheney, D. L., Seyforth, R. M., Wrangham, R. W. and Struhsaker, T. T.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.Google Scholar
Marsh, C. W. and Wilson, W.L. 1981. A Survey of Primates in Peninsular Malaysian Forests. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.Google Scholar
Payne, J., Francis, C.M. and Phillipps, K. 1985. A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo. The Sabah Society and World Wildlife Fund (Malaysia).Google Scholar
Preuschoft, H., Chivers, D.J., Brockelman, W.Y. and Creel, N. 1984. The Lesser Apes-Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Schmidt, C.R. 1986. A review of zoo breeding pro- grammes for primates. Int. Zoo Yearbook, 24/25, 107–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Srikosamatara, S. 1984, Ecology of pileated gibbons in south-east Thailand. In The Lesser Apes – Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology (eds Preuschoft, H., Chivers, D. J., Brockleman, W. Y. and Creel, N). Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar