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October 2006 An adult stump-tailed macaque was rescued from a transport company's office in Prachuabkhirikhan province after its owner called us for help. The macaque called "Tjiew"
is a large male of almost 17 years old and has lived at the company since he was only one month old. Currently Tjiew is at the quarantine Centre and hopefully he will be integrated in to a group soon.
Although the year 2006 has not ended yet we can already say that this year has been a busy year with the treatment and intake of many animals. The increase however in amount of Loris (Nycticebus Cougang and Nycticebus Pygmeus) cases has been more than 100% in this year.
See Pictures Here
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An old female pig-tailed macaque was brought in at the rescue Centre early on a morning on the back of a motor-bike. Staff and volunteers could not believe their eyes when this motor-bike pulled up with a small cage on the back containing the macaque which was obviously distressed. The macaque that we believe is about twenty years old was suffering a severe kind of mange with no hair on most of her body and open wounds.
Nien was brought in not by the owner but by a worried neighbor who could not stand to see the macaque living in such terrible conditions. The good Samaritan drove over 80 kilometers with the macaque on the back of his motor-bike to bring her in to the Centre. We are taking care of Nien in the quarantine and she is getting better by the day. Hopefully she will soon be healthy and we look forward to introduce her in to a group of her own kind. Thank you, Mr. Roong, for your help! Thanks to you Nien has a new chance in life... See Pictures Here
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We recently finished yet another enclosure while waiting for better weather for the construction of the bear enclosure. A generous donation from a future volunteer, Greg from Australia, allowed us to build a large open field for our Pig-tailed Macaques. The field, positioned beside the previously built Stump-tailed Macaque field, is home to 9 of our young Pig-tail Macaques and boasts a pool, climbing ropes and frames and large artificial hollowed tree stumps.
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After interruptions due to hurricanes and abundant rain over the past few months, work is finally underway on our newest bear field. Situated beside the recently constructed field and also generously funded by Free the Bears Inc from Australia, the new field covers approximately 12,000 square meters and will provide adequate space for up to 20 bears which he hope to rescue over the next few years.
The wildlife trade in Sun Bears and Asiatic Black Bears is continuing despite efforts to curb this illegal activity and better conditions for captive bears are always in need. The new field contains a natural lake with bordered green areas and elevated towers for the bears to climb and sleep on. Once again we sincerely thank Free the Bears Inc for their assistance with this project. Updates on the construction will follow soon.
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After a fight of almost 4 years we will soon finally send back the first batch of orangutans from Thailand to Indonesia. The struggle to help these poor animals from the illegal wildlife trade has taken its toll. After so many years and even more trouble we can hardly believe that it is finally happening, and we do realize that it is not the end. Still many more orangutans and other species of wildlife are being traded and kept illegally in horrible conditions in the region.
It seems only to get worse, and the orangutan case (although considered the largest smuggling case ever op great apes in the world) seems to be only the tip of the iceberg. The WFFT has worked together with the ThaiAGA and the BOSF of Indonesia on this case for many years in cooperation with the Thai Forestry Police and is happy to see some progress. It is disturbing to see that a San Francisco based organization is trying to take credit for the outcome of the case but at least we all here know who did the job. The first 41 orangutans are to be taken back by Indonesian military plane on the 23rd of September.
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The stray dog problem is a major concern throughout Thailand as many upcountry villagers and local townspeople are simply unable to afford routine veterinary care for their pets. Often the lack of pet neutering leads to unwanted puppies and kittens which are either dumped on temples or in forests and the stray animal problem escalates. Many of these animals end up with debilitating skin problems and other diseases and many end up simply dying due to weakness and lack of food.
The veterinary team including other WFFT staff and volunteers prepared for a day of pet neutering in a local Thamairuak village to assist with this problem. A team of four veterinarians managed to neuter 26 male and female dogs and cats in a 6 hour operation, setting up a field surgery at the local open community Centre. Working in very basic conditions, we managed to run a smooth operation, essentially a production line - as one team anaesthetized the animals and prepared them for surgery, other teams were busy operating and yet another team was closely monitoring the recovery of the patients. Medications for skin and intestinal parasites were administered as well as any other necessary treatments. The day passed without a hitch and no medical crises.
All animals recovered well and were back home with their owners or back to the local temple grounds by the early evening. We plan to continue this undertaking on a regular basis and aid pet control throughout our local provinces.
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Within two weeks, all documents had been signed and the movement approved. On the day of transportation, the orangutans were given a good morning meal and then quickly moved into the moving cage together before being transported to the government vet station for a final signing of documents. From there, they were moved to the airport for the second last leg of their journey. By the time they reached Jakarta, it was late and they were exhausted from the journey. The government decided they would initially be taken to a Safari park where licensed quarantine premises awaited them. They will stay there for four weeks before they undertake the final leg of their journey to Borneo, where we hope they will grow into strong and confident orangutans, eventually able to return to the wild. More Here
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On July 12th we were informed by one of our volunteers in Chanthaburi province that a large male wild elephant was stuck in a mud pool for two days and could not get on his feet. Immediately our rescue team got on the way to see if they could help out. The E.R.E.C. mahout Berm and Doctor Olarn (Oh) left that morning to make the six hour trip to Chanthaburi province. More Here
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It's been a very exciting week at the centre following the completion of a large new enclosure for our stump tailed macaques. Although the 9 macaques had been living in adequate enclosures for the past 3 years, the new 1000 square meter enclosure provides an environment that is as close to "natural" as possible.
The enclosure has a large pool (macaques love playing in water), rope ladders, rope swings, a large net hammock, 3 large fake "trees" (the interiors of which are furnished with swings and provide shelter from the elements) and many 15 meter trees. The macaques have all settled well together and are really enjoying their new environment. More Here
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Edwin has over the last few years worked in cooperation with the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation to help stop the cross border trade in these beautiful apes, orangutans. While the over 70 orangutans confiscated in Thailand are still awaiting repatriation back to their home, Kalimantan on Borneo, a successful confiscation took place in Southern Vietnam of two very young orangutans that were smuggled in to Vietnam only a few months ago. Edwin was in contact with Vietnam based Wildlife-At-Risk for several weeks to officially complain about the prepare for the confiscation.
More Here
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A call was received from the Royal Project in Hua-hin about an injured slow loris that had been brought in. The loris had been stuck to a trap and was severely injured, it was in urgent need of treatment. Her right forearm had been badly injured and with the bones and tissue of the wrist joint exposed and the hand non-functional.
We decided to amputate the lower injured half of the limb and treated the animal with subcutaneous fluids and antibiotics. The wound is now healing well and the loris doing fine but she will not be able to be released back to the wild in her injured state. Hopefully she will be able to manage in one of our loris enclosures at some point in the future.
More Here
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March Update!
Released dolphin spotted after 5 days in large group!!! Click here for the story
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Every year forests are being burnt by people in the dry season to clear pars of these forests and to collect young leafs also called "phak Whaan" that can sell up to 200 baht a kilo. We estimate that many wild animals get hurt and killed due to these fires but never receive large quantities of animals in for treatment. This year however we were surprised twice to receive some very young fishing cats (six in total!) from different people.
Three very young ones of about 3 weeks came from Sraburi province and three more from a mountain only a mile away from the Centre, the last ones only a few days old. According to the farmer who brought the little cubs in they were found in a hole under a tree in a heavily burnt part of the forest. He said his dog attacked the mother and killed it, therefore bringing in the unfortunate cubs. The fires have been on for 6 weeks now in the forest opposite the Centre and not once have we seen the authorities try to stop the fire...
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After many years in cages 20 long-tailed macaques are now living in an open enclosure complete with trees, a pool, caves and plenty of space! Finally the day has come for Friday and Kijke to live together in a large group, click here for more.
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After almost a year the island is finally occupied. Read more here and see fantastic pictures of the gibbons swinging in the IPPL sponsored island here.
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Snakes are seen as not welcome in Bangkok and therefore rounded up by rescue organizations and the governments agencies. Most common are the reticulated and Burmese pythons that are rounded up in large numbers only to end up in dirty pens and pits at some of the city zoos. We have now been contacted by some of the agencies to pick up these snakes on a regular bases and to relocate/release them, giving them a second chance in life. The first batch of these snakes were released this month. 21 out of 22 were released in natural areas, one is still recovering from some old wounds at the Centres clinic.
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A young female sun bear has been rescued from poachers in Prachuap, Khirikhan province. The little bear is currently recovering at the Centre and more news will soon be posted on this news page. An investigation on how the bear ended up in a village south of Pranburi is still underway. Please check later for more news and pictures.
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January 2006 Our wish for a real mobile clinic has finally come through! After many years of looking for sponsors and working on the proposals we are very delighted that in February this year we will finally launch our "Mobile wildlife clinic" with the generous support of Care for the Wild International who will sponsor the medical equipment for this very necessary project. We already purchased a Volkswagen minibus in June 2005, but were still lacking the funds for all equipment such as dart-gun, oximeter, IV pumps, the operation table and gas anesthetics. This will now be installed all in the minibus thanks to the help of Care for the wild.
The minibus will be Thailand's first real and fully equipped clinic, standby 24 hours a day for rescue missions and able to operate on the spot. We know already that the vehicle will be very handy for the treatment of city elephants, wildlife hit by cars in rural areas and the care of wildlife at breeding Centres and temples where wildlife is kept without veterinary care. A detailed press release will be given at the launch of the mobile clinic at the end of February. First report here!
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Bear Field 1 Completed
Work has finally been completed on the first half of our new bear enclosure, and our group of four adult bears is enjoying the new open space. The young bears who were initially placed in the first side have been moved to the second half of the enclosure which unfortunately, has yet to be completed. Work has temporarily stalled due to finances but we are hopeful that some funding may be on its way in the near future.
The enclosure is complete with artificial trees for the bears to climb and sleep on top of, tunnels to hide in, padded with hay, and two swimming pools to cool in on hot days. With its size, hills and concrete protected trees, the bears can choose to either hide from all visitors or interact when they feel like it.
The design of the enclosure allows the bears to be as sociable or private as they like. The second half of the enclosure is waiting on similar constructions, and two outside holding cages are also waiting to be built, to assist with cleaning and maintaining the enclosures. With over 2000sqm for the bears to run in, it is the closest we can come to a semi-wild environment, until a better solution can be found to the problem of the illegal trade in wildlife.
More pics here
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Tsunami related news files read about our rescue work after the disaster.
Older news from before January 2005 News articles of the rescue Centre.
News clipping regarding wildlife and educational clips From newspapers in Thailand.
