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Welcome to Island Hopping in the Andaman Sea of Thailand
Koh Phuket Gibbon Rehabilitation Project
The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) at Bang Pae waterfall is a scientific research division of the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand (WAR). The project was established in 1992 by the late Terence Dillon Morin. The project is supported by the Royal Thai Forestry Department, and by a great deal of volunteer effort. The GRP is the only project in the world that rehabilitates and releases white handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) into areas where they have bee hunted to extinction.
In Thailand the populations of wild gibbons are decreasing in size very quickly. Mothers are being shot for their babies and the baby gibbons are commonly kept as pets in family homes, or in bars as tounist attractions. In these bars, the gibbons are often forced to wear clothes, drink beer and whisky, and smoke cigarettes. When gibbons are kept as pets, they regularly become more and more aggressive as they grow older. This is when people bring their gibbons to the GRP. Most of the gibbons have come from family homes or from bars.
The GRP has several islands in Phang Nga Bay where they release gibbons. There are several gibbons on each island including one that was born on the island. Other islands are home to juvenile gibbons. All of these gibbons are very fit and healthy. Observations are carried out daily, in order to help us understand the gibbon's behaviour. The ultimate aim of the project is to release gibbons back into the rain forests of Phuket. It is important that the gibbons spend some time on the islands first, to see how well they adjust to being in the wild. Then they can be moved and released back into the forests of Phuket. Just after the project began, a group of 4 gibbons was released into the rain forests of Khao Phra Thaew, but they were all killed by hunters within a short period.
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