Embun and her newborn at the Malaya Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in Raub, Pahang.
Gibbon Conservation Society has achieved another milestone with the arrival of a baby to parents Embun and Rangga at Malaya Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (Malaya GReP) in Raub, Pahang.
This marks an achievement in the work to rescue, rehabilitate and rewild Malaysia’s gibbons, who are often victims of the illegal wildlife trade.
This is the second successful birth at the rehabilitation centre, following the arrival of Axel on June 29, 2023, born to Ebony and Coley.
These births highlight progress made through strict adherence to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Best Practice Guidelines for the Rehabilitation and Translocation of Gibbons, according to a statement from the society.
While Embun exhibits exemplary maternal instincts – grooming, protecting and nurturing her infant – father Rangga has shown hesitancy in interacting with the mother and baby.
Members of the project are closely monitoring their behaviour to understand their interactions and ensure the cohesive development of the family unit.
The baby is developing well, the team said, meeting key developmental milestones under close monitoring, which is essential for evaluating the progress and readiness for eventual release into the wild.
Ebony, Coley and Axel have successfully met the seven criteria for release, demonstrating their readiness for reintegration into their natural habitat.
The family consistently demonstrates the necessary behaviours for survival, including brachiation, foraging skills, social interaction as a stable family unit, vocal communication and territorial awareness.
The release of both gibbon families is planned for next year, contingent on securing sufficient funding.
This release will be co-facilitated by the team of animal keepers, rehabilitation leaders and managers, together with Semangat Kerdor Semai – the all-female indigenous Semai wildlife ranger unit.
These single mothers originally served as a Sewang performance group to welcome guests to their village in Pos Buntu and intergenerational sharing of indigenous Semai culture, arts and rituals.
Now they play a pivotal role as Malaysia’s first all-female wildlife ranger unit, using citizen science to collect and document data, track wildlife health and behaviour and contribute traditional wisdom as well as national and global conservation knowledge.
The release will be a big step towards the gibbon families’ reintegration into their natural habitat and align with the commitment to ensuring long-term conservation and restoring the wild gibbon population.
Once released into the wild, each family could produce four or five offspring over their lifetimes, contributing to the natural population recovery of gibbons in the wild.
As seed dispersers, they will support the regeneration of Pahang’s forest ecosystems.
Updates, progress reports and observation about both gibbon families will be shared with subscribers of the Adopt A Gibbon programme to be launched in January 2025.
The society offers various tiers of support through this programme, including monthly sponsorship for fruit baskets, medication, enrichment and health checks.
The society also welcomes researchers and local universities to conduct research, training and capacity building as well as volunteers who are interested in learning more about primate conservation and rehabilitation, especially apes.
There has been growing interest from companies in adopting the families as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.
They can financially support the release of both families back into the wild, with the winning partner receiving the honour of naming Embun and Rangga’s newborn baby and access to live view closed-circuit TV footage.
This offers a special opportunity to monitor the journey and daily lives of these gibbon families during their rehabilitation process back into the wild.
For details, email donation@gibbonconservationsociety.org
