**Juvenile Green Turtle Found**

A healthy juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas) was found on the beach near Ban Talaenork by a staff member and volunteer from the WARF Sea Turtle Project.

On 14 January 2008 at around 11:00 the staff member and volunteer were at the beach planning to remove an unused fishing net. While walking along the beach, they spotted turtle tracks coming out of the water.The tracks led over a sandy ridge and on the other side  the turtle could be seen lying still on the beach, close to the water line.

Staff members brought the young green turtle back to the project office for examination. The carapace length (CCL) is 38 cm; the width (CCW) is 34 cm, and the turtle weighs 5.5 kg. Dr. Tum, the resident vet, believes that the turtle seems to be strong, but the long trip across the hot sand probably left it exhausted.

The project staff plans to keep the turtle at the center for a few days for monitoring before releasing it back into the sea. In addition, staff and volunteers will continue monitoring the beach for any signs of more turtles or nesting activity.

Dead Hawkbill found in Ranong

On the 24th November 2007 the sea turtle project at Ranong was unfortunately told about a dead hawksbill turtle (Erethmochelys imbricata)that a local fisherman from Ban Taalenork village found tangled in one of his nets. The boat in question was fishing along the coast near to beaches the project patrols and it is thought the turtle became caught in the nets and then drowned.

The turtle was believed to be a juvenile female and would therefore be too young to breed yet, however the loss of yet another turtle from the area is a big worry for all those involved. The carapace measured just 37.5cm in length and the turtle weighed 4.4kg. Samples of tissue, as well as barnacles which had settled on the turtle were removed by the project vet Dr Tum and were immediately sent off to Phuket Marine Biology Centre for analysis.

This sad incident has also brought awareness of the need to educate the local fishing community on what to do in the event of catching a turtle in their nets by accident, and training needs to be given to ensure the quick release of any turtles caught in fishing nets in the future.

Saved the Turtle

16.00 2 nd October 2007, two fishermen found a live Olive Ridley Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) that had been beached at Baan Ta Lae Nork Beach , Ranong. The fishermen work locally and had learned about our project via the Education Programme in Ranong. They took the turtle to our Wild Animal Rescue and Education Centre which is located a kilometer from the beach. Once the turtle arrived at the centre, our vet Dr.Tum checked its condition and found that its left front flipper and right back flipper were missing. This was not a new injury as there were no open wounds, and the turtle is now under the care of the centre and the local villagers. We will continue to monitor the animal's condition and if there are no further problems, we will release the turtle on the same beach in the near future.

WARF News August 2007

Long term projects - Maintenance and Expansion:

All staff and volunteers of Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand (WARF) have been working very hard during the month of August with three major projects underway at this time, as well as all the normal routine work and improvements.

At Wild Animal Rescue and Education Centre - Ranong, it was decided that an electric fence enclosing each individual island should be erected to ensure greater safety for the gibbons and visitors. The decision was made following the temporary escape of a few gibbons, who simply walked free from the island when the dry season water level was low; and also due to the sad death of Dongrak, who several months ago drowned in the moat surrounding the 'herpes' island. Bill, Bombay and Jib were moved into cages whilst this work was going on since their curiosity was getting in the way of the work. This was also much safer for the workers. Although the gibbons are much happier and less aggressive towards humans now that they are free on the islands, staff can never be complacent of a gibbon's true wild instinct. The fence dividing Vitex and Lydodium islands was completed this month and construction of the new Education and Observation Complex on Globba Island continues. Once all work is finalized, the twenty-four diseased gibbons at Ranong project shall be set free on the islands. All completion is estimated for the end of November, however heavy seasonal rains are hampering progress.

Elderly Jum was moved to Vitex island, a smaller gibbon island so that she faces less competition for food and encounters more dominant gibbons less frequently.

At the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) in Phuket , excitement and anticipation is mounting as the staff and volunteers prepare for the second release attempt of Payu family. The door of the acclimatization cage was first opened on the 7 th June this year and the four gibbons were given their chance of freedom. However, after several hours only Nuan and Nam Thip dared to leave the cage and were then attacked by Lek, mother of Arun family.

Nuan tried to escape but in doing so, dropped her baby to the forest floor. Nam Thip was unharmed and carried back to the acclimatization cage by the Thai staff, and Nuan was later coxed back in. And so a new area south-west of the Hope group territory was created for the Payu family. This is farther away from the Arun territory. This vast two month job of creating a new territory included new trails being cut, a new acclimatization cage being built, a new camp for staff and volunteers established and the whole area being mapped and tagged.

The GRP staff hope to open the door one more time on the 25 th September. Please keep your fingers crossed. The Payu family members are Khao (father), Nuan (mother), Payu (juvenile male born 2001 in the rehabilitation site), and baby Nam Thip (female, born March 2006).

Back at the project, the quarantine set-up has been improved by creating an equipment store, and the rehabilitation site has undergone an impressive facelift. The third group of International Student Volunteers (ISV) helped to create new paths and clear stairs of the rehabilitation site giving better access to the new cages. Concrete flooring under all of the lower gibbon cages was set, complete with newly installed hoses around each cage which makes cleaning cages much easier and more efficient. The remaining cages without concrete flooring in the upper section will soon be improved following Payu family release. There is a new cage in mid-construction, also to be completed later on in the year.

At Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand's Chiang Mai branch there are many projects currently underway or in preparation.

Environmental Awareness training for Thai volunteers: 'Volunteer Efficiency and Expanding of the Volunteer Network' Program

One major and ongoing project of this newly established program involves training Thai volunteers in a series of hands-on lectures and demonstrations about nature conservation and other environmental issues. It is hoped that in the future, those volunteers in Chiang Mai will establish a network in the North of environmentally aware individuals and initiate conservation projects of their own.

The most recent course took place on August 11 th , 12 th and 13 th and the topics of discussion included the plight of animals in Thailand, forest degradation and restoration, a means to reduce global warming, the roles and success of the check dams and the importance of vetiver grass, as initiated by His Majesty the King in soil and water conservation nationwide. Furthermore, the course focused on; medical first-aid for wild animals, prevention and relief of natural disasters, forest fire control and prevention, the construction of check dams.

Aerial Reforestation and Forest Fire Surveillance Project:

A second project in discussion considers the reforestation options for the forests around Chiang Mai, previously destroyed by logging and forest fires. WARF, in cooperation with the Royal Forestry Department, the National Park, the Wildlife and Plants Department and the NOK Flying Club based in Lamphun are proposing aerial forestation and aerial forest fire surveillance (forest fire was a major threat in the Northern provinces). An initial feasibility survey and intensive study on aerial seeding shall be carried out. More information and advice is needed so that the project can be as successful as possible. To begin with, reforestation and fire prevention shall be targeting Doi Suthep-Pui National Park , however pilots and local people have been urged to report any fires to the Forest Fire Control Authority in Chiang Mai.

The Northern Seeds Center in Lampang have selected and donated 50 kilograms of seeds. The species include Khoon ( Xyiia xylocarpa ), Mai Daeng ( Cassia fistula ), Pruek ( Albizia iebbek ), Thon ( Albizia procera ), Khajor ( Millettie locentha ), Sor ( Gmelina arborea ) and Mai Pradue ( Macrocarpus pterocarpus ). Thank you to the Northern Seeds Center in Lampang.

Both aerial reforestation and forest fire surveillance project marked His Majesty the King's 80th anniversary and to acknowledge both His Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen for their great contribution in forest and wildlife conservation.

Tiger tracking in Chiang Mai:

In 2005, villagers reported that an unknown number of tigers had mauled over 20 cattle. The affected areas were Chiang Mai districts; rural Mae, Lamphun and the areas surrounding Mae Takrai National Park , Doi Pha Chang wildlife sanctuary and Doi Khun Tan , and also Prao and Doi Saket districts . Despite there being no official reports of tigers for over 28 years, WARF wish to investigate and possibly prove the existence of tigers in this area . Proposals are in place to join teams with governmental wildlife experts for researching the tiger's status in the province. This operation is even more urgent since rumours in the area tell of some hill tribes killing the felines for bones, skins and traditional medicines.

Animal Health and News:

Heavy Rain and humidity has aggravated what would have been some fairly minor injuries and sicknesses into something more serious.

In Ranong our resident vet Dr. Tum, diagnosed a female long tailed macaque named Jumjim with severe enteritis, or intestinal inflammation. She did not respond to any treatment and despite all efforts, sadly passed away.

In another sad fatality, our slow loris Nun became entangled in a rope which opened a sore in her leg. The sore later became heavily infected and a parasitic worm was found in the wound. She did show signs of improvement but later died.

Juvenile macaque Sabb escaped this month and when he was on the run, he received a deep cut on his finger. Whilst the injury was being treated and bandaged, Sabb was also sterilized. He has now been moved to a new cage as he is now big enough to be in a group.

Two new slow lorises were received this month, one form Bangkok which unfortunately died of pneumonia soon after arriving at the project, and the second received from the local village. This second loris has joined another baby in the rehabilitation site and both slow lorises shall be released in the near future.

The GRP are still mourning the loss of Shirley (adult female) and her nearly 6 month old baby Kernow to a three metre long adult python that slithered into their cage during the night of August 17 th . Shirley was killed but presumably too large for the snake to swallow and left on the floor of the cage where her body was collected by GRP staff and later buried. However, baby Kernow was swallowed and then the swollen python was too large to exit the cage. GRP staff cut through the cage to catch the snake and carried it to a site for release near the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area's office, clear of GRP's Rehabilitation site. Shirley's mate Mai was uninjured but clearly distressed. Currently he is in a cage next to Mee and Jojo and the staff are considering a new mate for him so that he still has a chance of release.

GRP news from the forest of Khao Phra Thaew, Phuket - success stories

Hope family group were observed at the beginning of August by the ISV. Kip (mother) and Toffee (baby) climbed down low in the canopy looking for food on this occasion and so the onlookers were able to see them closely. Jo (father) stayed high up in the trees but was watching Kip and Toffee all times and even showed signs of aggressive behaviour towards the observers. Toffee is starting to become more independent and is sometimes seen swinging alone, although is never far from Kip. Thong (brother - juvenile male) and Hope (sister - juvenile female) also come to play with Toffee at times.

ISV also helped with observations on the Arun group at the beginning of August. During observations the group moved about 200m further north of their territory, but came back in the early evening to sleep in their usual place.

Community projects:

Leaflets in Phuket:

Later this month, the GRP plan to distribute leaflets to the ten villages surrounding Khao Phra Thaew non-hunting ground, to inform villages that the project will be releasing gibbons in this area. This is a precaution if any of the gibbons happen to turn up in a village, the project can be quickly informed and retrieve them.

Volunteer Efficiency and Expanding of the Volunteer Network Program

The Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand's Chiang Mai branch has recently set up its new plans in the Northern provinces, with upcoming challenging projects to protect our precious natural resources, especially in supporting the plight of our wild life, namely:

Training for the volunteer trainees.
The Developing Volunteer Efficiency and Expanding of the Volunteer Network Program (W.A.R. Volunteer) this year, was held at Doi Suthep-Pui National Park in Chiang Mai. The second training session for wildlife conservation volunteers was again funded by the UPS Foundation Global Grants Program for the second year. About 60 senior students, school teachers, officers from Tambon Administrative Organisations and public natural disaster relief organisations have undergone our training courses with the intention to enlarge their visions, capabilities and knowledge in nature conservation and environmental education.

Our next training course, August 11-12-13 2007, candidates learn about plight of animals in Thailand, forest degradation and restoration. We also introduce a programme on forest reforestation, a means to reduce global warming, the roles and success of the check dams and the importance of vetiver grass, as initiated by His Majesty the King in soil and water conservation nationwide.

Additionally the 3 day course will focus on: medical first-aid for wild animals; prevention and relief of natural disasters; forest fire control and prevention; the construction of check dams. The idea is for our candidates to establish a network in the North, to meet and supervise with schools and children, helping them to launch and initiate their own nature conservation projects, which will attract support from the UPS Foundation.

Flying to plant the trees.
The second project was the planning of aerial forestation and aerial forest fire surveillance. WARF with cooperation of the Royal Forestry Department, the National Park, Wildlife and Plants Department and the NOK Flying Club , based in Lamphun would soon make initial feasibility survey and study on aerial seeding.

It's a challenging approach. There are controversial issues as to the overall effectiveness of aerial reforestation; however, WARF will look at all the issues, study past experiments and engage in a long term plan that will follow up results. WARF would express our thanks to the volunteer pilots and NOK Flying Club who have volunteered to sponsor this project. WARF have be presented with 50 kilograms of seeds as selected and donated by the Northern Seeds Center in Lampang. The seeds were from the speicies of of Khoon ( Xyiia xylocarpa), Mai Daeng (Cassia fistula), Pruek (Albizia iebbek), Thon (Albizia procera), Khajor (Millettie locentha), Sor (Gmelina arborea and Mai Pradue (Macrocarpus pterocarpus).
More information and advice is being sought to make the project possible. WARF considers its first priority, in aerial reforestation, is by planting trees and vegetation exploited by wild animals ie leaves, seeds, fruits etc.

Forest fire was a major threat to forest destruction in the Nothern provinces. With the help of the pilots of NOK Flying Club fires can be spotted and reported quickly so that action in fire control can be taken immediately. As planned, the project initially is aimed to be around the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park to determine its feasibility. However pilots and local people are urged to report any fires to the Forest Fire Control Authority in Chiangmai.


Both aerial reforestation and forest fire surveillance project was aimed to mark His Majesty the King's 80th anniversary and Her Majesty the Queen for their great contribution in forest and wildlife conservation.

Tiger tracking in Chiang Mai.
Just about 50 kilometres from Chiang Mai downtown, several reports made by locals during mid-2005 that unknown number of tigers mauled over 20 cattle in several occasions at villages in Mae On sub-district, adjoined the boundary of the Mae Takrai National Park. Later, similar incidents were found around villages in Lamphun and adjoining Doi Pha Chang wildlife sanctuary and Doi Khun Tan.
The first report in Chiang Mai was claimed by the villagers that there was no record about tiger in their vicinity for the last 28 years.

WARF was trying to make initial survey to prove the existence of tiger in Chiang Mai and probably join with governmental wildlife experts to plan the research and study about the tiger status in the province of Chiang Mai and may be if necessary the rescue operation when some hill tribe men were trying to kill the feline for bones and skins after the tiger(s) last year reportedly killed several more of cattle in Prao and Doi Saket districts.


Community-based forest rehabilitation.
WARF's new Northern office is temporarily in Doi Tao district, most southern district of Chiang Mai. Much of its green area had been denuded leaving sandy soil farmlands and barren lands. Drought is inevitable in the dry season. The rehabilitation plans include forest restoration, construction of check dams and planting vertiver grass to enhance soil and water conservation in the project area.
Discussions are underway with the local authorities concerned to carry out ways and means in the rehabilitation of this area.

GRP News.....Released of Payu Group

Our staff and Volunteers at GRP Phuket, have been very busy these past two months. On May 4 th , the Payu group was relocated to the acclimatization cage in preparation for their release. Jo (father of the Hope group) followed the moving process for 20 minutes. On May 5 th , the Thai staff discovered the Hope group near the pond, not far from the Payu group's cage. On May 6 th , Thong and Jo were found on top of the acclimitization cage. On May 7 th and May 8 th , all Hope group members were discovered near the cage. It became apparent that the Hope group's territory had increased, so the decision was made to move the Payu group to a new area near the training cage. Toward the end of May, members of the Arun group came to the new release cage on several occasions. The plan was to have a few people on hand to distract the Arun group on the day of the release, set for June 7 th . A large ceremony took place on release day, and we had many visitors come to support our efforts, including staff from WARF in Bangkok , a documentary crew, and the Phuket Governor. Following the celebration, a team of staff and volunteers hiked into the forest to set the Payu group free. Once the cage door was opened, Nuan (mother) swung to freedom immidiately, carrying Namthip (infant) with her. They stayed in the canopy for the rest of the day, feeding from the fruit baskets provided. Khao (father) and Payu (juvenile), however, were apprehensive about leaving and remained content within the cage. The following day, an observation team of staff and volunteers went into the forest to monitor the Payu group, and found that Khao and Payu had stayed in the cage overnight. Around mid-morning, the Arun group appeared, and began to fight with Nuan over the territory. Because the entire Payu group was not out of the cage, they weren't able to defend themselves against the Arun group. Nuan and Namthip fell from the canopy, and much of the day was spent trying to relocate them and return them to the cage. The Thai staff was able to do this successfully, and no permanent damage was done; however, a new release site needed to be determined.

The forest team was surveyed to find another location for the Payu group's acclimitization cage. A new area has been established to the south of the Hope group territory, where a new cage and camp were built. The Payu group will be quietly relocated to this site in July, hopefully avoiding further encounters with the Hope and Arun groups. The new release date is set for early August.

General Director of DNP visited GRP Phuket

On April 1st, 2007 The Director General of The National Park Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Chalermsak Vanichsombat, visited Khao Pra Theaw Non-Hunting Area Phuket, as well as our Gibbon Rehabilitation Project. Dr.Tum the project director gave the Director General information about the GRP and WARF and gave him an informative tour of how the rehabilitation process works and abit of information about some of the resident gibbons.

WARF Conservation Education

A group of 45 students from National Centre for Gifted and Talents visited our Conservation Education and Fund-raising in Phuket on April 21st, 2007. The Thai staff at GRP gave a presentation to the students about the gibbons and their conservation issues. The children found the talk very interesting as many of them did not understand the full extent of how important it is to help these apes with their fight for survival.    

Release News

During this month the Thai staff have been working hard clearing up the old trails and cutting the new trail, to help with observations during the release of the Payu group in June, 2007.  The satellite camps have also been set up and the main camp was also fixed up and improved.

Hope Group: They were found them many times this month. The whole group were only found foraging together  occasionaly. While only some members of the group were seen at other times, but it was thought that the other members weren't too far away. 

Arun Group: All members were seen four times during the month and often their calls were heard in the distance.   

On April 22nd, 2007, The Hope and Arun group were heard using territorial calls between eachother for 30 minutes. It was innitiated by the Hope group, while the Arun group responded. After 30 minutes the Arun group finished calling but the Hope group still continued, with Thong singing the longest.

Payu Group: Payu the juvenile gibbon was unable to eat at the beginning of feeding hours because of his mother, Nuan, who chased him away from the feeding basket. After Nuan become full and no longer wanted any more food she finally allowed Payu to eat.
We plan to move the Payu group from the training cage to the acclimatisation cage on May 4th, 2007.

WARF Animal Rescued

• On April 13th, a Thai man brought in a Slow Loris, that he said he found on his property. The Slow Loris was examined by the Veterinarian and was found to be healthy without any injuries. The staff and volunteers at GRP released the Slow Loris during the night on April 14th, into Khao Pra Theaw Non-Hunting Area.

• On April 26th another Slow Loris was brought to us by the village near by. It was found on the ground with little attempt to move. The Slow Loris was found to have injuries to its head and was refusing to eat food or drink water. The Thai staff and volunteers gave it constant attention following its arrival. The following day with little improvement Dr.Tum took it with him to Ranong, however it unfortunatly died the next day from weakness and severe head injuries.

• The Thai staff were called to rescue an aggressive macaque that had escaped into the Vichit village. The staff were unable to reach or dart the macaque to capture it as it was too high in the trees. After many hours of trying to capture it, the Thai staff decided to try again another day.

• During the Songkran period, we received a young owl that had fallen from a very tall tree. Since his nest was quite high up into the tree we were unable to return him to his nest. He is currently staying at WARED and is feed small pieces of fresh fish and chicken. 

WARED General News

The beginning of this month dry season begun, limiting the amount of fruit and water available. This resulted in the wild crab-eating macaques, which would normally live on the top of the trees in the mangrove forest, to come down to the ground in search of food. One of our resident Crab eating Macaques, Tong Yoi, who lives in Cage Number 1, was bitten on his left hand between his thumb and forefinger 5cm along his palm. The wound was inflamed and blistered from infection. Since Tong Yoi is an aggressive Macaque we were unable to catch him to treat the wound appropriately, thus we gave him medication only to reduce the inflammation and the blistering orally for 7 days. The wound is healing well and he is now able to use his hand normally.
As for the wild Macaque that bit Tong Yoi, he was caught and released back into the forest, further away from the centre.

Our lost

Unfortunately one of our female Crab eating Macaques, Kud Jee, who lived in Cage Number 8, has died. She had severe clinical signs of weakness, diarrhea and no appetite. She was caught by her keeper, for the veterinarian to give her a physical examination. The vet found Kud Jee to have Hypothermia and her mucous membrane was pale pink. Kud Jee was then treated by fluid therapy with 100ml injected under her skin and 100ml of antibiotic injected into her muscle. Since Kud Jee was hypothermic she was kept warm by warm water being injected into her rectum and lower intestine, and a hot pack was given to her for external warmth. Kud Jee had been drinking water so we were able to give her mineral salt powder mixed into her water, however in spite of the vets efforts her prognosis was poor. The next morning Kud Jee was found dead, an autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death. It was found that she had an excessive accumulation of fluid in her spleen, gas in her stomach and intestine and she had tissue attached between her intestine and peritoneum, with white tissue covering her intestine. This white tissue may have caused bloating and severe abdominal pain, resulting in abnormal character and function of the intestine. The rumen of her intestine was more narrow than normal, causing the content in her stomach and intestine to ferment to gas and was thus unable to flow out resulting in the spread of toxins into her bloodstream causing her death.

Loris Confiscations Highlight Need for Protection
http://www.ippl.org

Several recent loris smuggling incidents have shown how important it is to increase international protection for these small, nocturnal primates. Cambodia has proposed that all three species of slow loris (the greater slow loris, Bengal slow loris, and pygmy slow loris) be elevated to Appendix I (the most protected category) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Lorises are currently listed on Appendix II, which leaves them vulnerable to commercial trade. Cambodia's proposal will be debated at the 14th Conference of the Parties of CITES, which is to be held in the Netherlands in June 2007. In some official circles, support for this action appears to be limited, because very little legal trade has been reported to the CITES Secretariat. However, it appears that illegal trade is much more rampant and could be taking a significant toll on these animals.

Thai-Japanese smuggling route On 3 November 2006 a man was arrested by Thai customs and CITES authorities at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Wildlife officials found that he had concealed nine slow lorises in his luggage. The man, a 34-year old Japanese national, confessed that he had purchased the slow lorises at Bangkok's Chatuchak Market for 6,000 Thai baht (US$185) per animal. This was the third time in 2006 that slow lorises had been confiscated en route from Thailand to Japan, but the first time at the new airport. The suspect could face prison time and heavy fines.

Thai-Japanese smuggling incidents are continuing this year. On 24 February 2007, another effort was made to smuggle lorises to Japan via Suvarnabhumi. Thai officials seized 23 slow lorises, most of them babies, packed in small cages inside a large suitcase bound for Narita Airport, Japan. A Japanese national named Kawarabuki Nobuhito checked his luggage at the Thai Airways counter. Thai airport authorities grew suspicious of the contents of the suitcase after hearing noises coming from inside and informed wildlife officials stationed at the airport. The lorises were confiscated, but the passenger did not show up to board his flight.

Indonesian, Malaysian seizures
In an earlier incident that took place in January 2003, the Indonesian police confiscated 91 slow lorises from a Kuwaiti citizen at Jakarta Airport. The animals were destined for Kuwait. More recently, on Thursday 8 February 2007, seven slow lorises were found during a raid by Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks on a pet shop in Bandar Puteri Permai, Seri Kembangan. The animals were confiscated and moved to the wildlife department's headquarters in Cheras, where their health is being monitored. Several of the lorises were sick. Plans included sending them to the wildlife department's animal rescue centre. The pet shop owner selling the lorises and other protected wildlife faces a long prison term.

GRP Released Update

Payu Group

Namthip has become independent of her mother by being able to move freely on her own accord.  The other members of the family keep a watchful eye on her to be aware of her safety. More social behaviours and playing is occuring between Payu and Namthip. We hope that due to Namthip's birth at the project and by being so young with such little human influence it will make her behaviours more wild; therefore, she will have less difficulties adapting to the forest when compared to other gibbons that have been released.

Arun Group

We see this group every week and there has been little concern. We have been seeing them at the feeding basket. During two observations we only saw Bank, Arun, and Yoge in this area.  Bank tends to be eating more of the food than the other two gibbons. Arun and Yoge seem to be slightly afraid of Bankand keep their distance from him until he leaves the feeding basket. All gibbons in this group look healthy.

Hope Group

Between December 4th and January 21st we had observed only Joe and Thong. We were unable to see Kip, Hope, and Toffee and we were concerned about their well being. On the 21st of January we came across the whole Hope group which relieved our worries of the other three gibbons. Toffee shows to have more fur then what was seen in December which shows us that he is healthy.

Posted on 11/02/07

New Arrival: Pig-Tailed macaque

We collected a wild Pig-tailed macaque, Macaca nemestrina , from Karon. The macaque was lost from his group and went to a village to find food. People from village were scared of the macaque and beat him. Another resident called staff from the forestry department to come and rescue the macaque. Staff from the forestry department and GRP, Phuket went to Karon and found the macaque to be very thin and scared. We decided to bring him back to our quarantine site as he could not survive on his own. We are currently caring for the macaque and soon he will be moved to WARED, in Ranong. He will hopefully be introduced to a caged group of Pig-tailed macaque. He can not be reintroduced back into the wild as he would not be accepted by a macaque group and would have to survive alone. Macaques live in large social groups and attack unknown macaques the unknown individual often dies from their injuries.

IOSEA WORKSHOP SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION "THE WAY FORWARD"  

The IOSEA sea turtle conservation workshop at the WARED centre Baan Talae Nork, took place on the 13 th of December. Attending were: Ranong Govenor, sub-distric governor, national park staff, Wild Animal Rescue Thailand staff, local villagers, the village chief, school children and sea turtle volunteers. Over one hundred and twenty nine people altogether.

Left to Right : Preecha Sonserm, Ranong Governor, Pornpen Payakkaporn,
Sub-District Governor and Somphotch Nimsanticharern

The day started off with the sub-disrtict Govenor giving a history of Baan Talae Nork.

Next Preecha Sonserm, WARF board committee member, gave a speech about the history of WARF and its set up.

Pornpen Payakkaporn, WARF Secretary General then went on to describe how the sea turtle conservation project was set up, she said "when I was just a wee nipper I used to eat turtle eggs every season then all of a sudden there were no turtle eggs. I was very alarmed! Things had changed and I had to do something about it so this is why I started up the WARF Sea Turtle Conservation Project"

Pornpen descriped how the project was set up

The Ranong Govenor then said how happy she was to hear about our project. She praised our hard work, commitment and the running of the project. Next she declared that she would do anything she could to help our cause including coming down to the beach one night and patrolling the beach. Walking around some of the display boards, she commented that they were very informative and well presented, and it further raised her concerns for the Sea Turtle population in Thailand , and Ranong.

The Govenor then toured around the WARED centre which worked up her appetite for the delicious lunch. After finishing the lunch she made her exit as she had had a lot of concerning thoughts for that day.

A presentation was given by Adrian Davies on the Lifecycle of Sea Turtles after lunch. Ajarn. Sompotch Nimsunticharern from Ranong Coastline Resources Researh Station was translating and Bung Deed and Sa-yan came up to demonstrate certain sections of the lifecycle like laying, hatching and breeding.

Next something unforeseen and dramatic occurred. The sky opened up and then ensued a mad rush to get all the electrical equipment inside and display material covered. This disrupted the day and the remaining events somewhat.

Under a waterproof canopy Ajarn Sompotch held a discussion with the local community about what can be done to help conserve Sea turtles. Here Melanie Schulz outlined the threats faced by sea turtles and Lana a sea turtle volunteer read out a description of what Naucrates was doing out on Pra Thong Island. Ajarn Sompotch then asked what local people could do to help. The local chief said that the community could tell the project whenever they found a nest and help look after it from now on. The school children also said that they would like to go down to the beach and help out some time, maybe patrolling or picking up litter. All in all a positive reaction came from the community.

Later that day a discussion with the National Park staff took place, where they offered some support to us in the way of uniformed staff members for the beach patrols sometime in the near future.

It can be said that the day brought about a positive reaction for a negative situation. Events like this are important in order to bring about change. Conservation work such as Sea Turtle protection in Thailand can seem like an uphill struggle to those on the front line, and even giving a lot of effort can sometimes only bring about little or no change. However with the influence from people in the right places change can be brought about more easily and the results more pronounced. I wish to thank everyone involved in the day as the enthusiasm and work for that day were second to none. Thank you one and all.

Volunteer News.....Volunteer needs to assist team of staff In GRP

Related Topic Voluneer Opportunity

The Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand is urgently seeking for volunteers to assist a team of staff at Gibbon Rehabilitation Project for releasing a gibbon family back to the forest. Volunteer will a ssist in the research (for instance behavioural research). The way the released gibbons spend their time is observed. Behavioural elements are registered, for instance: territorial behaviour, urinating, threatening behaviour towards the observers, coughing, sneezing, foraging, abnormal behaviour and singing. Special emphasis lies on dominant behaviour, the place of the individuals in the group, explorative behaviour and their behaviour towards people, e.g. the observers. Furthermore you may participate in following activities:

• Assist the caretakers (preparing food, feeding)

• Building and maintaining the cages.

• Daily cleaning of the cages.

• Giving talks to tourists, telling them of your experiences and those of the animals at the project as well as enlightening them on the current situation of the wildlife protection in Thailand.

GRP News.....Released of Payu Group

Our staff and Volunteers at GRP Phuket, have been very busy these past two months. On May 4 th , the Payu group was relocated to the acclimatization cage in preparation for their release. Jo (father of the Hope group) followed the moving process for 20 minutes. On May 5 th , the Thai staff discovered the Hope group near the pond, not far from the Payu group's cage. On May 6 th , Thong and Jo were found on top of the acclimitization cage. On May 7 th and May 8 th , all Hope group members were discovered near the cage. It became apparent that the Hope group's territory had increased, so the decision was made to move the Payu group to a new area near the training cage. Toward the end of May, members of the Arun group came to the new release cage on several occasions. The plan was to have a few people on hand to distract the Arun group on the day of the release, set for June 7 th . A large ceremony took place on release day, and we had many visitors come to support our efforts, including staff from WARF in Bangkok , a documentary crew, and the Phuket Governor. Following the celebration, a team of staff and volunteers hiked into the forest to set the Payu group free. Once the cage door was opened, Nuan (mother) swung to freedom immidiately, carrying Namthip (infant) with her. They stayed in the canopy for the rest of the day, feeding from the fruit baskets provided. Khao (father) and Payu (juvenile), however, were apprehensive about leaving and remained content within the cage. The following day, an observation team of staff and volunteers went into the forest to monitor the Payu group, and found that Khao and Payu had stayed in the cage overnight. Around mid-morning, the Arun group appeared, and began to fight with Nuan over the territory. Because the entire Payu group was not out of the cage, they weren't able to defend themselves against the Arun group. Nuan and Namthip fell from the canopy, and much of the day was spent trying to relocate them and return them to the cage. The Thai staff was able to do this successfully, and no permanent damage was done; however, a new release site needed to be determined.

The forest team was surveyed to find another location for the Payu group's acclimitization cage. A new area has been established to the south of the Hope group territory, where a new cage and camp were built. The Payu group will be quietly relocated to this site in July, hopefully avoiding further encounters with the Hope and Arun groups. The new release date is set for early August.

General Director of DNP visited GRP Phuket

On April 1st, 2007 The Director General of The National Park Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Chalermsak Vanichsombat, visited Khao Pra Theaw Non-Hunting Area Phuket, as well as our Gibbon Rehabilitation Project. Dr.Tum the project director gave the Director General information about the GRP and WARF and gave him an informative tour of how the rehabilitation process works and abit of information about some of the resident gibbons.

WARF Conservation Education

A group of 45 students from National Centre for Gifted and Talents visited our Conservation Education and Fund-raising in Phuket on April 21st, 2007. The Thai staff at GRP gave a presentation to the students about the gibbons and their conservation issues. The children found the talk very interesting as many of them did not understand the full extent of how important it is to help these apes with their fight for survival.    

Release News

During this month the Thai staff have been working hard clearing up the old trails and cutting the new trail, to help with observations during the release of the Payu group in June, 2007.  The satellite camps have also been set up and the main camp was also fixed up and improved.

Hope Group: They were found them many times this month. The whole group were only found foraging together  occasionaly. While only some members of the group were seen at other times, but it was thought that the other members weren't too far away. 

Arun Group: All members were seen four times during the month and often their calls were heard in the distance.   

On April 22nd, 2007, The Hope and Arun group were heard using territorial calls between eachother for 30 minutes. It was innitiated by the Hope group, while the Arun group responded. After 30 minutes the Arun group finished calling but the Hope group still continued, with Thong singing the longest.

Payu Group: Payu the juvenile gibbon was unable to eat at the beginning of feeding hours because of his mother, Nuan, who chased him away from the feeding basket. After Nuan become full and no longer wanted any more food she finally allowed Payu to eat.
We plan to move the Payu group from the training cage to the acclimatisation cage on May 4th, 2007.

WARF Animal Rescued

• On April 13th, a Thai man brought in a Slow Loris, that he said he found on his property. The Slow Loris was examined by the Veterinarian and was found to be healthy without any injuries. The staff and volunteers at GRP released the Slow Loris during the night on April 14th, into Khao Pra Theaw Non-Hunting Area.

• On April 26th another Slow Loris was brought to us by the village near by. It was found on the ground with little attempt to move. The Slow Loris was found to have injuries to its head and was refusing to eat food or drink water. The Thai staff and volunteers gave it constant attention following its arrival. The following day with little improvement Dr.Tum took it with him to Ranong, however it unfortunatly died the next day from weakness and severe head injuries.

• The Thai staff were called to rescue an aggressive macaque that had escaped into the Vichit village. The staff were unable to reach or dart the macaque to capture it as it was too high in the trees. After many hours of trying to capture it, the Thai staff decided to try again another day.

• During the Songkran period, we received a young owl that had fallen from a very tall tree. Since his nest was quite high up into the tree we were unable to return him to his nest. He is currently staying at WARED and is feed small pieces of fresh fish and chicken. 

WARED General News

The beginning of this month dry season begun, limiting the amount of fruit and water available. This resulted in the wild crab-eating macaques, which would normally live on the top of the trees in the mangrove forest, to come down to the ground in search of food. One of our resident Crab eating Macaques, Tong Yoi, who lives in Cage Number 1, was bitten on his left hand between his thumb and forefinger 5cm along his palm. The wound was inflamed and blistered from infection. Since Tong Yoi is an aggressive Macaque we were unable to catch him to treat the wound appropriately, thus we gave him medication only to reduce the inflammation and the blistering orally for 7 days. The wound is healing well and he is now able to use his hand normally.
As for the wild Macaque that bit Tong Yoi, he was caught and released back into the forest, further away from the centre.

Our lost

Unfortunately one of our female Crab eating Macaques, Kud Jee, who lived in Cage Number 8, has died. She had severe clinical signs of weakness, diarrhea and no appetite. She was caught by her keeper, for the veterinarian to give her a physical examination. The vet found Kud Jee to have Hypothermia and her mucous membrane was pale pink. Kud Jee was then treated by fluid therapy with 100ml injected under her skin and 100ml of antibiotic injected into her muscle. Since Kud Jee was hypothermic she was kept warm by warm water being injected into her rectum and lower intestine, and a hot pack was given to her for external warmth. Kud Jee had been drinking water so we were able to give her mineral salt powder mixed into her water, however in spite of the vets efforts her prognosis was poor. The next morning Kud Jee was found dead, an autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death. It was found that she had an excessive accumulation of fluid in her spleen, gas in her stomach and intestine and she had tissue attached between her intestine and peritoneum, with white tissue covering her intestine. This white tissue may have caused bloating and severe abdominal pain, resulting in abnormal character and function of the intestine. The rumen of her intestine was more narrow than normal, causing the content in her stomach and intestine to ferment to gas and was thus unable to flow out resulting in the spread of toxins into her bloodstream causing her death.

Loris Confiscations Highlight Need for Protection
http://www.ippl.org

Several recent loris smuggling incidents have shown how important it is to increase international protection for these small, nocturnal primates. Cambodia has proposed that all three species of slow loris (the greater slow loris, Bengal slow loris, and pygmy slow loris) be elevated to Appendix I (the most protected category) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Lorises are currently listed on Appendix II, which leaves them vulnerable to commercial trade. Cambodia's proposal will be debated at the 14th Conference of the Parties of CITES, which is to be held in the Netherlands in June 2007. In some official circles, support for this action appears to be limited, because very little legal trade has been reported to the CITES Secretariat. However, it appears that illegal trade is much more rampant and could be taking a significant toll on these animals.

Thai-Japanese smuggling route On 3 November 2006 a man was arrested by Thai customs and CITES authorities at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Wildlife officials found that he had concealed nine slow lorises in his luggage. The man, a 34-year old Japanese national, confessed that he had purchased the slow lorises at Bangkok's Chatuchak Market for 6,000 Thai baht (US$185) per animal. This was the third time in 2006 that slow lorises had been confiscated en route from Thailand to Japan, but the first time at the new airport. The suspect could face prison time and heavy fines.

Thai-Japanese smuggling incidents are continuing this year. On 24 February 2007, another effort was made to smuggle lorises to Japan via Suvarnabhumi. Thai officials seized 23 slow lorises, most of them babies, packed in small cages inside a large suitcase bound for Narita Airport, Japan. A Japanese national named Kawarabuki Nobuhito checked his luggage at the Thai Airways counter. Thai airport authorities grew suspicious of the contents of the suitcase after hearing noises coming from inside and informed wildlife officials stationed at the airport. The lorises were confiscated, but the passenger did not show up to board his flight.

Indonesian, Malaysian seizures
In an earlier incident that took place in January 2003, the Indonesian police confiscated 91 slow lorises from a Kuwaiti citizen at Jakarta Airport. The animals were destined for Kuwait. More recently, on Thursday 8 February 2007, seven slow lorises were found during a raid by Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks on a pet shop in Bandar Puteri Permai, Seri Kembangan. The animals were confiscated and moved to the wildlife department's headquarters in Cheras, where their health is being monitored. Several of the lorises were sick. Plans included sending them to the wildlife department's animal rescue centre. The pet shop owner selling the lorises and other protected wildlife faces a long prison term.

GRP Released Update

Payu Group

Namthip has become independent of her mother by being able to move freely on her own accord.  The other members of the family keep a watchful eye on her to be aware of her safety. More social behaviours and playing is occuring between Payu and Namthip. We hope that due to Namthip's birth at the project and by being so young with such little human influence it will make her behaviours more wild; therefore, she will have less difficulties adapting to the forest when compared to other gibbons that have been released.

Arun Group

We see this group every week and there has been little concern. We have been seeing them at the feeding basket. During two observations we only saw Bank, Arun, and Yoge in this area.  Bank tends to be eating more of the food than the other two gibbons. Arun and Yoge seem to be slightly afraid of Bankand keep their distance from him until he leaves the feeding basket. All gibbons in this group look healthy.

Hope Group

Between December 4th and January 21st we had observed only Joe and Thong. We were unable to see Kip, Hope, and Toffee and we were concerned about their well being. On the 21st of January we came across the whole Hope group which relieved our worries of the other three gibbons. Toffee shows to have more fur then what was seen in December which shows us that he is healthy.

Posted on 11/02/07

New Arrival: Pig-Tailed macaque

We collected a wild Pig-tailed macaque, Macaca nemestrina , from Karon. The macaque was lost from his group and went to a village to find food. People from village were scared of the macaque and beat him. Another resident called staff from the forestry department to come and rescue the macaque. Staff from the forestry department and GRP, Phuket went to Karon and found the macaque to be very thin and scared. We decided to bring him back to our quarantine site as he could not survive on his own. We are currently caring for the macaque and soon he will be moved to WARED, in Ranong. He will hopefully be introduced to a caged group of Pig-tailed macaque. He can not be reintroduced back into the wild as he would not be accepted by a macaque group and would have to survive alone. Macaques live in large social groups and attack unknown macaques the unknown individual often dies from their injuries.

IOSEA WORKSHOP SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION "THE WAY FORWARD"  

The IOSEA sea turtle conservation workshop at the WARED centre Baan Talae Nork, took place on the 13 th of December. Attending were: Ranong Govenor, sub-distric governor, national park staff, Wild Animal Rescue Thailand staff, local villagers, the village chief, school children and sea turtle volunteers. Over one hundred and twenty nine people altogether.

Left to Right : Preecha Sonserm, Ranong Governor, Pornpen Payakkaporn,
Sub-District Governor and Somphotch Nimsanticharern

The day started off with the sub-disrtict Govenor giving a history of Baan Talae Nork.

Next Preecha Sonserm, WARF board committee member, gave a speech about the history of WARF and its set up.

Pornpen Payakkaporn, WARF Secretary General then went on to describe how the sea turtle conservation project was set up, she said "when I was just a wee nipper I used to eat turtle eggs every season then all of a sudden there were no turtle eggs. I was very alarmed! Things had changed and I had to do something about it so this is why I started up the WARF Sea Turtle Conservation Project"

Pornpen descriped how the project was set up

The Ranong Govenor then said how happy she was to hear about our project. She praised our hard work, commitment and the running of the project. Next she declared that she would do anything she could to help our cause including coming down to the beach one night and patrolling the beach. Walking around some of the display boards, she commented that they were very informative and well presented, and it further raised her concerns for the Sea Turtle population in Thailand , and Ranong.

The Govenor then toured around the WARED centre which worked up her appetite for the delicious lunch. After finishing the lunch she made her exit as she had had a lot of concerning thoughts for that day.

A presentation was given by Adrian Davies on the Lifecycle of Sea Turtles after lunch. Ajarn. Sompotch Nimsunticharern from Ranong Coastline Resources Researh Station was translating and Bung Deed and Sa-yan came up to demonstrate certain sections of the lifecycle like laying, hatching and breeding.

Next something unforeseen and dramatic occurred. The sky opened up and then ensued a mad rush to get all the electrical equipment inside and display material covered. This disrupted the day and the remaining events somewhat.

Under a waterproof canopy Ajarn Sompotch held a discussion with the local community about what can be done to help conserve Sea turtles. Here Melanie Schulz outlined the threats faced by sea turtles and Lana a sea turtle volunteer read out a description of what Naucrates was doing out on Pra Thong Island. Ajarn Sompotch then asked what local people could do to help. The local chief said that the community could tell the project whenever they found a nest and help look after it from now on. The school children also said that they would like to go down to the beach and help out some time, maybe patrolling or picking up litter. All in all a positive reaction came from the community.

Later that day a discussion with the National Park staff took place, where they offered some support to us in the way of uniformed staff members for the beach patrols sometime in the near future.

It can be said that the day brought about a positive reaction for a negative situation. Events like this are important in order to bring about change. Conservation work such as Sea Turtle protection in Thailand can seem like an uphill struggle to those on the front line, and even giving a lot of effort can sometimes only bring about little or no change. However with the influence from people in the right places change can be brought about more easily and the results more pronounced. I wish to thank everyone involved in the day as the enthusiasm and work for that day were second to none. Thank you one and all.