Perth Zoo has one of the world’s most successful breeding programs for Javan Gibbons, however, our contribution doesn’t end there. We are also involved in the conservation of this endangered species in the wild.
Javan Gibbons live on the island of Java, Indonesia. The island is twice the size of Tasmania but is home to more than 130 million people, making it the world’s most populated island.
More than 98% of Java’s original habitat is gone. Without the trees, Javan Gibbons have nowhere to live and become vulnerable to poachers who trap them for the illegal pet trade.
The Javan Gibbon Centre in the Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park cares for relinquished and rescued ex-pet Javan Gibbons. At the centre, the gibbons receive ongoing care and rehabilitation with the eventual aim of reintroducing them to the wild.
To further this aim, $10,000 from Wildlife Conservation Action was used for habitat surveys in the search for suitable patches of forest where gibbons can be released. Since then, one of the areas surveyed, the Pattiwel Forest, has become the site of the firstreintroduction of Javan Gibbons into the wild.
Around $50,000 has also been provided to build new enclosures and fund veterinary and husbandry work at the Javan Gibbon Centre as well as the operation of mobile education units and other gibbon conservation initiatives.
To further support gibbon conservation, Perth Zoo has taken a lead role in developing a global conservation plan to manage all Javan Gibbons around the world in zoos and rehabilitation centres as one megapopulation for maximum benefit for species conservation.
In 2012 WCA provided $20,000 for the employment of an Indonesian-based project coordinator to implement the objectives of the conservation plan. The coordinator will be responsible for implementing recommended actions in Indonesian and participating institutions around the world.
Activities include establishing Gibbon Protection Units working in national parks, identifying suitable gibbons for release into the wild, and the ongoing development of the GCMP.
To learn more about the GCMP, visit perthzoo.com.au/gcmp.
Please donate to Wildlife Conservation Action to support this important work.
* figures are as at December 2010
