Local conservation society sees birth of first gibbon at its centre

Picture from The Gibbon Conservation Society pic

PETALING JAYA: In a landmark win for local conservation, a local gibbon conservation society has welcomed the birth of Malaysia’s first-ever gibbon baby at its conservation centre in Pahang.

The Gibbon Conservation Society (GCS) said that the birth of the baby, named Axel, marked a key milestone for gibbon conservation efforts locally and globally.

"Statistics have shown that more than 90% of wildlife released without proper rehabilitation will die in the wild. This makes Ebony, Coley and Axel’s success even more crucial

"Axel’s birth has especially been a long-awaited occasion as rehabilitation for gibbons can take a long time, anywhere from five to 15 years.

"And in order to have the best chance of survival when released, gibbons must also be released in a family unit with a father, mother and baby," the non-profit organisation said in a statement on Monday (July 31).

The conservation group also explained the difficult journey that Axel’s parents have had to go through to reach this point as victims of the illegal wildlife trade.

"Axel’s parents - Ebony (mother) and Coley (father) were victims of rampant illegal wildlife trade as they were infants themselves when rescued.

"In order to catch the newborn infants, poachers would have had to kill the pair’s parents and siblings," it said.

GSC founder Mariani Ramli, who began the project using her own savings, expressed her happiness at being able to do her part in saving the lives of the two unfortunate gibbons.

"Ebony and Coley have had such long and hard journeys as their families were killed when they were just babies.

"But now, getting to see them create a new family, it’s the most amazing and fulfilling thing.

"I am so grateful that we (GCS) have been able to help them along this journey," she said in the statement.

The non-profit conservation group added the new family of three would be closely monitored over the next six months to ensure they were capable of functioning as a proper family unit and if all went well, they were expected to be released back into the wild in early 2024.

Gibbons are among some of the most endangered animal species on Earth due to habitat loss and hunting for use in traditional medicines as well as in the black market pet trade.