As reported at the AGM, there have been some major developments since our recent visit to the Javan Gibbon Centre in September 2006. The lease for the land on which the centre has resided since November 2002 was not renewed and as a result the centre was forced to relocate with very little notice. Luckily a new site has already been found not far from the previous site. Relocation of the animals and the facilities is already underway, however there is a lot that still needs to be done to get the centre fully functional.
It is unfortunate that such little notice was given of the lease termination, as the ideal would have been to have the new facilities built before the gibbons were moved. With the current situation, the gibbons have had to be moved to temporary holding cages while the new facilities are constructed. It has however prompted some much needed progress and our hope is to build a bigger and better facility at the new site that can accommodate a much larger number of gibbons and allow for breeding, rehabilitation and hopefully release. We are hopeful that the new centre will be operational within a couple of months, however they are entering the wet season when construction work will become quite difficult.
In January we will be sending two committee members across to the centre to assess the site and the progress. We have arranged for this visit for a JGC staff member to visit the Kalaweit site in Palangkaraya, Borneo as well as for Chanee from Kalaweit to come to the new JGC site and provide advice on developing the site.
Funds are desperately needed to ensure that the centre is up and running at the new site as soon as possible, and to ensure that enough enclosures are built to accommodate not only the current gibbons, but also a number of others from local rescue centres and villages. We hope to create a world class centre similar to Kalaweit that will contribute significantly to the conservation of this species. We need your support to make this happen.
Click to hear
the haunting call
of the female
Silvery Gibbon
