A few more of the residents

Sugar.
Sugar arrived at Highland Farm on the 9th May 1999. He was initially sent to WAR (Wild Animal Rescue) in 1996 and is thought to have been born in the wild. His owner no longer wanted him as his neighbours were complaining about Sugar singing. Sugar had been kept at a bar in Pattaya, a city 150km south of Bangkok, where he was given amphetamines, alcohol and cigarettes. He was made to stay up until two in the morning to ‘entertain’ the customers. Wild gibbons will usually settle down in a night tree several hours before sunset.
He had also been kept on a wire leash, which WAR found had grown into his neck. He nearly died in the operation to remove it. He becomes very nervous when some people, usually westerners, approach him though he seemed cool with me. He has a habit of sitting with his arms wrapped tightly across his chest, while bouncing his back against one of the poles in the corner of his enclosure. He also stays up much later at night than the other gibbons.

Coconut.
As well as the 45 Gibbons that live at Highland farm there are also 7 monkeys. Coconut is a male stump-tailed macaque otherwise known as the bear macaque. In Coconuts case this is quite apt. He must have been kept as a pet as he is quite overweight and friendly to humans. He was discovered about 2 miles from Highland farm at a national park. There are no wild monkeys to be found in the park as it is relatively new secondary forest. Coconut’s owners must have released him when he either started to bite or was just eating them out of house and home. I found him to have a very gentle temperament and although he is not very active, he doesn’t display any stereotypical behaviour.
Some of the other monkeys must have been very poorly treated before arriving at Highland farm.
Primates, and in fact most animals, that have been kept in poor conditions or on their own can develop stereotypical behaviour. These behaviours are usually very repetitive and include pacing, neck-twisting, rocking, over-grooming and even self-harm. Sugar’s version is to wrap his arms around himself and bounce his back against a pole. In my experience these behaviours will never totally disappear no matter how well they are cared for. They will come out again when the animal is stressed or frightened, sometimes for no apparent reason. It is important therefore that any captive animal has some form of regular enrichment. It can be social (company of others), environmental (new branches/ropes) or mental (food presented in a novel way, puzzles).
Below is a picture of one of the monkeys with a simple bamboo food puzzle. You can see the look of concentration on its face.
Keri ;o)