Monkey/ape bars.....Escalators!

Day 5.

This morning we discussed the changes to the enclosure plan in light of the price of materials. We agree to go ahead with 5 new enclosures. 3 larger ones at 9m x 6m by 4m high, then 2 smaller ones at 6m x 6m by4m high. Every enclosure will have at least 2 runways connecting them with 2 hatches on each runway. Apart from the other uses I have mentioned of being able to move the gibbons around, the runways enable 2 or more enclosures to become one bigger space. This will be good when there are larger groups or when they are introducing 2 adults to one another. If introducing a male to a female you can start by opening one end of a runway and leave the other end shut, this enables the gibbons to be close but not close enough to harm each other if they decide they don't like one another.

I discover that there is a pile of ready cut Bamboo and I spend the afternoon digging bits out for my Monkey/Ape bars.

Day 6.

After Breakfast I'm told that we are off to buy materials. Yesterday afternoon Nok phoned around all the suppliers and found the best prices for us. I head off with Ta Win, the main maintenance guy, and we make a a plan to met up with Pharanee in Mae Sot. After about an hour and a half in the hardware store (one of my favorite kind of places) we set off with a pick-up full of beams, paint and some bits I had to get for enrichment and remotely operated hatches (my Fav.).

After lunch I go and offer Ta Win my help. He and his team are putting the first layer of anti-rust paint on. I take some photos and Ta Win mimes that they are OK for help, he doesn't speak English. I then mime that I am happy to go and start digging post holes (something I have done many times before) so he says OK then goes off to get a set square and a tape measure. He then gives a spade to one of the guys that was painting and it dawns on me that he thinks I want to take photos of them digging holes! It takes a while but eventually I manage to explain and we all have a good laugh about it. I then explain that I am happy to go and dig holes but he won't let me. I guess that I am the guest and they don't want me to get my hands dirty, a lovely sentiment but I actually enjoy getting my hands very dirty!

So, I head off with a few tools to carry on with my Bamboo Monkey/Ape bars. I have found two 5&1/2 m lengths that curve upwards in the same way so I start to chisel away to make holes for the bars. Ta Win comes over and mimes that they have a drill to do that so we carry the pieces over to the tool cupboard and get to work. We work hard on getting it right for around 2 hours and once it is finished Ta Win sticks it into an enclosure with around 7 young Gibbons in it. It is an instant hit. There is a flurry of excitement and straight away they are brachiating back and forth along it, even Scotty who only has one arm, gets involved. Everyone stops what they are doing and comes to watch. Gibbons have a ball and socket joint in their wrists. This enables the youngsters to reach the end and, without removing their hand, spin 180 degrees and head back the way they came. One of the women that works here says that the Gibbons seem to be loving the escalators!

I get a great sense of achievement at the end of the day, things are moving along very quickly and I feel that I have been able to help these lovely creatures that live here. Now that I have set the scene and introduced the work I shall be doing I'm going to use my next few blogs to introduce you to some of the characters I have met here. Right now, I'm off to get a massive lunch somewhere!

Keri ;o)

Market day!

DAY 4.
This morning we have an early start. We set off to drop Peter and Siebrecht at Mae Sot bus station for the next leg of their trip. Siebrecht lets a few tears escape and I imagine that many people find Highland Farm, and Pharanee, hard to leave.
Then we head of to the market. Pharanee travels the 45km to Mae Sot twice a week to buy all the fruit she needs. The vegetables like Pak choi and pumpkin tend to come from the local farms close to the sanctuary. Mandarin oranges are in season at the moment and most stalls are selling them by the bagload. Some of the stall owners must have been out early with the superglue as they have 2ft-tall perfect pyramids of them adorning their stalls. There are also pyramids of football sized Grapefruits. It isn't quite the manic hustle and bustle that I had expected though it is great fun watching Pharanee barter with the stall owners.
So, after buying some nice ripe mangoes, bags of mandarins and olives (a kiwi-sized fruit!) we drive around the corner to get some more bits. This is where the manic hustle and bustle is! We have to drive at around 2mph as motorbikes dodge past and people, carrying all sorts of wonders, cross in front of us. All along the pavement people have stalls or just blankets on the ground. There are chillies of all shapes and sizes, various roots, wodges of coriander, lime leaves, lemongrass, multiple varieties of aubergine, chunks of palm tree and of course lots of designer jeans and T-shirts! It is absolutely fantastic. I was glad I didn't bring my camera as it was a complete assault on the senses and I loved being able to absorb it all. Sights, sound, smells and even stray tastes assaulted me, I was tempted to start touching everything just to complete the sensory experience!
We parked up at Pharanee's favorite stall and loaded up the pick-up with bags of aubergine, cucumbers, watermelons and a few others I have yet to recognise.
On the way home we stopped at Tesco's, it is exactly the same layout as the ones in the U.K but with completely different produce. I stocked up on goodies and availed myself to a pair of Ray-Bans. Genuine article of course! We then stopped off to check out the prices of materials for the enclosures. The rest of the afternoon I spent trying to fix the laptop until the point where it completely turned its toes up!
That night I sat and worked out the various costs for the enclosures using the different materials available to us. I had been all for spending more money on longer lasting materials such as 3in round posts and 1 1/2 in round beams but looking at the difference in price ( between 3-4 times more expensive) I would rather have more enclosures with a network of runways and hatches. Also I think it would be good to have one spare empty enclosure that can be used to move the Gibbons around for a change of scenery and to enable safe cleaning and plenty of enrichment.
Keri ;o)

Days 2 & 3 and a little rant!

DAY 2.
After the morning primate (Gibbons, monkeys then us) breakfasts Pharanee shows me the space they have cleared for the new enclosures. After discussing some new designs I had in mind and agreeing on the materials and size of the enclosures we take a walk around the Gibbons. I am introduced and get to hear some of their stories. When I get some good photos and get to recognize them all I will do some individual profiles for my blog.
We go for lunch just up the road to Pharanee's favorite restaurant, the food is great and it seems I will be able to sample some great vegetarian dishes while I am here. I just have to learn the Thai for “No fish sauce please”. Pharanee drives us in the direction of the mountains so we can see Burma but also to show us the extent of deforestation. There is barely a tree in site, what trees there are are softwoods that have been planted recently to produce fruit or firewood. On the way back the heavens open and I am treated to my first rain in over a week. It is now too wet to walk around the land so we agree to do it tomorrow.
That night I get to look through Pharanee's old photo albums. There really was nothing at all on the land when they first moved there. There is a series of photos of the house being built, there were no blueprints as it was all in Bills head. This filled me full of respect for them both as the results are amazing given that they only started in 1991.

DAY 3.
Pharanee has lent me her laptop so I had started to keep a diary on it to then transfer to my blog twice a week when we come into Mae Sot. Unfortunately after about 30 mins the laptop died or cashed in its chips, whatever it is that computers do when they die! So I am now in Mae Sot rapidly typing up some notes I have made. Please excuse any spelling mistakes.
Today we had a walk around the land. For 35 acres it is amazing what has been squeezed in here. There is woodland, a bamboo plantation, fruit trees of every kind and even a rice field which has just been harvested. The Gibbons and the monkeys get rice balls once a week and the dogs and cats are fed it every day. They have produced enough to last for a whole year.
Part of the funding application was to redo the perimeter fence. There is a little stream that normally runs through the North end of the land. This year when it flooded it actually broke the concrete posts and flattened the fence. This enabled people to sneak in from the nearest village and start chopping down trees and stealing firewood. Having seen photos of how the land looked in 1991 it is amazing to walk around it now. It is a wildlife haven in an otherwise wholly agricultural countryside. As little as 50 years ago this whole area was tropical forest. Pharanee has been told that there were lots of Gibbons here and the older generation are reminded of how it used to be by the sounds coming from Highland Farm. The regeneration of this land is an important educational tool in an area like this. Schoolkids come to visit and many people drop in to see the Gibbons.
It is unlikely that this region, or in fact, any deforested areas in Thailand will ever be restored to their former glory which makes it all the more important to protect what is left. We can plant lots of trees and help create havens for wildlife but tropical forest takes 1000’s of years to develop the diversity necessary to support the species that, up until 100 years ago, still thrived in these wild places. Demand from the west for tropical hardwoods such as Teak and Mahogany provided the incentive for people to cut faster and further into the forests than ever before. Technology and machinery improved rapidly enabling vast swathes to be chopped in a day. In recent years even our obsession with DIY has played a negative role. We have all been encouraged, by TV, to get on the property ladder and increase the value of our homes by sticking in some window seating or radiator covers. Unless it states that they are from sustainable sources the materials we use, such as MDF and Plywood, all come from tropical forests.
Once upon a time we could blame deforestation on the cattle ranches using slash and burn to produce cheap beef for the rapidly appearing fast food outlets. Now it is soya and palm oil production that are reducing the forests of Indonesia and S.America to barren hillsides unfit to graze or grow anything on, never mind regenerating what was lost. Given the current economic climate many people will be turning to cheap processed foods. The majority of these contain soya and/or palm oil, check your labels, you’ll be surprised. Hopefully we can stem the tide of destruction and although we may not be able to reverse it, we can start creating the havens that can provide shelter for the wildlife refugees, the displaced and the homeless.
Anyway, I just had to get that of my chest, I’ll put the soapbox away! Seeing the plight of the Gibbons in Thailand first hand has reminded me why I make little changes in my lifestyle and consumer choices. Little changes that, on their own, are insignificant but once part of a collective whole do make a difference.
So, back to Highland Farm! Here is one of those wildlife refugee shelters that is providing a home, not just for primates but for insects, frogs, birds, snakes and numerous other beasties. A lot of time, energy and even lives have gone into creating it.
This is what makes it so upsetting when people just come and take from it. Each tree in this place has been planted for a reason. Each time the fence is cut someone has to fix it and time and resources are taken from the residents here. I could see how distressing this is to Pharanee and Nok (the manageress, who also lives here) so we agreed that work should start on it right away. Nok has redesigned the fence as a wall which will have a 2 foot gap underneath at the point where the flooding occurs, the rest of the wall will be 1.8m tall which although that is scale-able you cannot just cut it.
On the way back we bumped into one of the workers who was strimming around the paths and the bits of fence to be replaced. He had been lucky to have spotted the bee’s nest before he strimmed the reeds supporting it. The nest is around 3 ft wide by 2ft high and very busy. There would be nowhere nearby where a nest this size could, or would be allowed to, exist. Bee populations around the world are in decline. Bee’s are the main
Pollinator of our crops. There is global crop failure and a shortage of food. Surely this is a sign that we need more havens like this.
Keri ;o)

1st day at Highland Farm

DAY 1.
The working day starts here at 7.30am but I am awake by 6, there is an amazing sunrise out my back window and I take advantage of the shower and coffee. At around 7 the noise begins, softly and slowly at first then gradually building until the whole area is filled with the morning song of the Gibbons.
We all meet at the food prep. area and start chopping. The food is prepared for the 45 Gibbons and 6 macaques that live here. There is a multitude of weird and wonderful vegetables and fruits and it is all lovingly washed and chopped. The Thai staff, there are 7, are all very friendly and we are taught to say the general hello (also goodbye), which is sawat dii, followed by khrap (it actually does sound like it is spelt!) if you are a man and kha if you’re a woman.
We follow them around and watch the Gibbons being fed. Then after a quick tidy up we go for breakfast out on Pharanee’s terrace. Pharanee was planning to show me around the land today but it is a day of public mourning in Thailand. The Kings sister died earlier this year and today is the day of her cremation. There has been a lot of preparation for this day and Pharanee is off to a local town to pay her respects. The Thai Royal family are held in the highest regard by everyone.
So, I spend the day walking around and introducing myself to the Gibbons and monkeys and taking photos of the huge spiders dotted around. I get an idea that I should go and cut a few bits of bamboo to make some enrichment for the enclosures. Gibbons are incredibly agile and move through the trees by brachiating, basically arm over arm. They have very long fingers and non-opposable thumbs to enable them to do this. Given a good space to do this they can reach speed of up to 35mph! They can then turn very easily as their wrists have ball and socket joints so can twist round 180 degrees. My plan is to make a big set of monkey bars for them. I also thought I would try and make some bamboo food puzzles for the monkeys, this helps to keep their minds active. So, having heard there was lots of bamboo growing on the land, I asked Stephanie to show me where they were. On the way she points out an area where a giant python lives then when we get to the bamboo there is loads so I run off and get a saw. When I get back I realize that there is a small but very yellow and black spider in its web between the bits I was going to cut down, I also spot what is either an ant or bees nest up in the bamboo! For once common sense prevails and I decide to leave it until tomorrow so maybe Pharanee can tell me what is actually dangerous or not. It is after all my first day, and it wouldn’t be very good if I was to be bitten by an unknown spider, chased by bees and run into a python on the way!
I spend the rest of the day unpacking, reading about the Gibbons of Khao Yai (a National park in Thailand) and chatting to Peter and Siebrecht.
Keri ;o)

Journey to Highland Farm.

So, after a good night’s sleep, and a long soak in a hot bath, I caught my bus to Mae Sot at 9am. Mae Sot is about half way up through Thailand towards the Western border with Burma/Myanmar. I was surprised at just how flat the interior of Thailand is, miles and miles of agricultural land broken up by the occasional random hill in the distance. Due to the impact of agriculture and deforestation for hardwoods and firewood, Thailand now has less than 15% of its primary tropical forest left. As you can imagine, this leaves very little space for the amazing wildlife found here. Tigers used to be in abundance, Asian Elephants were everywhere and of course the Gibbons could be found going about their business.
Towards the end of my journey I had nodded off, I was stirred by the bus changing gears and we seemed to be going very slowly uphill. On drawing back the curtain I realized that we were heading up into mountains surrounded by Forest. The views were spectacular and the roads were winding. After an hour or so we descended into the wild frontier town of Mae Sot. As it is only 6km from the border with Burma it is filled with a rich mix of Burmese and Thai people but also members of the local hill-tribes, the Karen and the Hmong. The hill-tribes people live in the mountains between Burma and Thailand but they do not recognise the border. This can lead to conflict with both governments and so Mae Sot has a big population of Farang (foreigners) working for western NGO’s assisting the refugees that arrive here. This lead me to one of the strangest sights so far; a giant Tescos!!!
I arrived at the bus station around 5.30pm just as the sun was going down into Burma/Myanmar. I was met by Pharanee Deters, the owner of Highland Farm Gibbon sanctuary. She was accompanied by 2 Dutch guests (Peter and Siebrecht) who had just arrived for a few days and Stephanie, a volunteer at the sanctuary. Pharanee took us all into the town and bought us dinner at a place with a surprisingly varied menu. It was a mix of Thai, American, English, Italian and even Mexican. I had a go at the Tofu steak, which was actually much more tasty than it sounds.
Pharanee is originally from Thailand but she had lived in the States for many years. This was where she met her husband Bill in 1974. Upon his retirement, in 1991, they bought up 35 acres of barren land near Mae Sot. They started to build a house from scratch and replant the land with trees and a few crops. It was during these early days that they came across their first Gibbon in need of help.
Unfortunately certain hill-tribes in this area do actually hunt Gibbons for their meat. One day a man called to their, as yet unfinished, door and offered them a baby Gibbon for sale. They were reluctant to pay money as this only encourages the trade but he was threatening to sell it to a bar in Bangkok. There it would have been doomed to live a short life chained to a bar and made to smoke and drink for the amusement of the customers. In the end they agreed to pay 500 Baht for it, around $15 at today’s exchange rate. This was the last time they ever paid for a Gibbon. They named the young baby Chester. It is difficult to tell the sex of a baby Gibbon and so he later became Miss Chester. This was the beginning of the sanctuary; abused and mistreated Gibbons started arriving from all over Thailand. They were having to build homes for the Gibbons even before they had finished work on their own!
Sadly, in 2002, Bill along with 4 other people was murdered by a disgruntled ex-employee who had broken in to rob the house. Pharanee was away in Bangkok at the time and on her return was faced with an awful decision. Move away for her own well being or stay for the Gibbons and carry on their dream. She chose the hardest option and stayed.



So, after dinner we headed up highway 105 towards Highland Farm and once again I arrived at my destination in the dark. Pharanee showed me to my room, which I was amazed at. It is a long room above the food preparation area, en suite with a flushing toilet and a hot shower! There is also a fridge and my own coffee making area. All luxuries that I would not have expected but I suppose I will just have to get used to them! It is also much cooler here then at the WFFT rescue centre; we are around 860m above sea level, so I sleep soundly.
Keri ;o)

Trip to Thailand

So, as some of you may already know, I'm off to Thailand for a month from the 8th November. I'm heading to a Gibbon Sanctuary called Highland Farm, you can click on the link to see their website. Basically, they have been given a very generous donation from the International Primate Protection League (IPPL). You can see their great website through the links as well! Thanks to their Fall fundraising campaign, and one extremely generous donation from a very kind lady called Gloria Gray, they are donating $60K to Highland Farm. As you can imagine, this will go a long way in Thailand and help secure a long-term future for all the animals there.
I'll be helping design and build some new enclosures for the Gibbons and generally advising on the best use of this donation. I'll keep you all updated on my progress and, along the way, introduce you to some of the individuals that live there. I hope you enjoy this blog and possibly learn some new things to tell your friends.
Keri ;o)