November 22, 2000
Hello from Sander,
Two days ago, I arrived at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in Thailand. First I was shown around. And yesterday, I went to Pukhet City to cash in my money, to buy food for the gibbons, and to eat and buy some stuff. But today was my first working day. I started right away at the Waterfall site where the gibbons are already a little bit in nature. I worked together with a Japanese girl and it went pretty well. I already have a lot of Ideas what I want to do. But I already noticed that I really have to move in the political structure here to get things really done. All the volunteers are nice. Between them, there are no real politics; everybody here is on equal terms, so that is good. There are now about 20 volunteers. Some of the gibbon cages are very nice, big and in the forest. We try to feed some gibbons with long feeding systems, and the cage cleaning goes a lot differently than at AAP (the Ape Association in Holland), a little weird even, but I will get used to it.
I want to tell you so much more, but I find it very difficult to express my feelings about the project on the screen with Thai music and traffic in the background. But I still want to tell you about one thing: The first day I was there I learned that the project manager in charge of the islands will leave in two weeks. He is a volunteer who is here already two months (which is pretty long at this project... sadly). Possibly, one of us (Bas or me) might get the responsibility over the islands. I really would want to do it, but I have mixed feelings. It is unfortunate that there is nobody available to be in charge who has more experience. Still, it would be very exciting to do something like that! One real disappointment is that there is no person at the project that is really highly educated in this field. Some volunteers are studying topics which are related to this project, but still, no experts. I will write soon and tell you how things progress.
Sander,
at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, Phuket, Thailand
November 27, 2000
Hello from Sander,
I just sometimes miss home and Amsterdam, although I am having a pretty good time. Thanks for your words about leading the project in Vietnam and believing in myself. It sort of comes at the right time, because I really feel that way a bit. I mean that I have to lead.
I was able to get two "long distant feeding systems" up (which made me pretty happy because it is really a big step forward). Tomorrow I will go to the island station at Ko Boi, east of Thailand, with the coordinator of that part of the project (he's the man who will be leaving soon). I'm going there to see if I might want to be the next island coordinator. And it is very serious. They are already counting on me taking this responsibility on, but I still have to make up my mind. I want to see if I can really do something there, like getting some gibbons over to the island, or at least make a better feeding system out there so the gibbons will less associate people with food. I heard it is much more basic there, like toilet in the forest, no electricity, I will have to cook for myself, and so on. If I take the job, there is a good chance that I will stay there alone often, but at least I will be at the pinnacle stage of the project. I will be there for three days. After that I will fax you new information about the project. I am really wondering what kind of site you are making. I am sure it will look great. I will think about nice things that can be put on it...
While I am writing this I suddenly got the idea to go through the gibbons files for more information, so I will write back in about four days...
Sander
at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, Phuket, Thailand
December 10, 2000
Hello from Sander,
Hello all, I am doing great. At the project, I have been pretty busy, only focusing on one thing, the gibbons. Maybe a bit to much, but there a things that really start to roll. I am sending some drawings so you can see the beginning of my plan and two drawings on the long distant feeding system.
Today I made a very big start with cage repair. I think I can fix the whole cage tomorrow, so I can take it to the island. I have done a lot of work, but a lot more has been done. I just have to watch out that I don't lose to much contact with my fellow volunteers who I talk to about gibbons (and every thing about them) most or the time.
Thursday I will go to the island alone again which makes me - I think "officially" - island coordinator. Which is great! But today, I also relaxed (it was my free day). I went to the beach and snorkeled for the first time. It was beautiful, and I also managed to learn, by myself, the diving-and-blowing-the-water-out-later part. It was very much fun. Tomorrow, I have an office day, which means I can work on my plans. I will write again as soon as I can.
Sander
at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, Phuket, Thailand
December 8, 2000
Hello from Sander,
This is the plan we have developed for implementing the repopulating project on the island of Kho Daeng.
Plan - Kho Daeng
1. Put cage from quarantine
up at Kho Daeng. (12 Dec. -14 Dec. 2000)
The separate sides of the cage will be put on the normal ferry to Ko Yao. Then
from Ko Yao, we will transport the cage to Ko Boi. Two or three people are needed
(besides me) who can help with transporting the cage and building it up. When
we are at Ko Boi, these people will build the cage up to test if it is strong
and reliable and to see how we can put the cage up as fast as possible on the
island. If everything is okay, we will transport the cage to Ko Deang and put
it up close to the forest next to the other cage there.
When we are there, we will find out what the best locations are to install the feeding systems and how many cyst's we will put down (minimum 4). So we can say how much material we need. We will also have a try out with the system on Ko Boi to see what problems we might encounter.
We will have a look on the island to see what is the best place for the release and catch cages.
2. Time for the gibbons to get used to the cages (14 Dec. - max. 28 Dec.). On day 2, we will put food on the cages. From the day 2 to day 5, we will slowly increase the amount of food that we put in the two cages (the cages are open, the entrance is connected with a rope that is tied to a strong pole of wood. The pole has a concrete base which is put deep in the ground at the beach). After day 5, we will put all food in the cage so that the gibbons can't reach it from the outside. We will try to catch them by the next feeding.
3. Build long distance feeding systems (LDFS) on Ko Daeng.
After we have caught gibbons Mr. Lisa and Jita, we will need about 5 or 6 people who will help to build the long distant feedings systems on Ko Daeng. We need people who can climb high up the trees, who know how to work with concrete and who are, of course, familiar on Ko Daeng. We need concrete (2 bags per system), metal pins (2 per system), 1.5m long metal pipe, a lot of metal cable (100-150m per system), little metal pins to hold the metal cable in place (4 per system), a good quality pulley (1) and a frame of water pipes with wire for the food transportation.
4. Make release cages for two selected gibbons. We will put the cage on the other side of Ko Daeng at the same time as we put the LDFS. It will be a 3x3m cage for 2 gibbons. The plan for this comes when we will go to Ko Boi on 12-14 Dec.
Sander
at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, Phuket, Thailand
March 13, 2001
Dear Friends,
I have just come back from Ko boi 1 hour ago. We did it!
Today at 10:00 o'clock, we released the three juveniles Billy, Black, and Cheetah . I pulled the gate myself. All went well. There were a few incidents of gibbons fighting and of gibbons being pretty clumsy in climbing the trees which they missed for so long. A lot of preparation went into it. I am very happy and feel that I have done my thing mostly at the project. Tonight I will have a good-bye party, but I am not going, yet. Tomorrow I will go back to Ko boi for another three or four days to train the next coordinator and to watch my released gibbons.
I stayed on Ko boi for one week, three days alone, doing observation on my own, all day in the forest on the island with all the gibbons around coming very close, especially Mr. Lisa. It was a real Jane Goodall experience, sitting there and watching them, caring for them and feeling good that I had done all this... building the cage and feeding systems, transport, observation, and release, it is great!
As soon as I was back at Phuket I went to the gibbon's empty cage, climbed in and took a picture from inside as proof.
I will send you a more extensive report on the release of the three gibbons.
Sander
at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, Phuket, Thailand
by Sander van Andel
A big day for the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, as it was fifteen months and eight days ago that the last gibbon, Mr. Lisa, was released on this same island. Prior to this release were many years of hard work, plans, frustrations and patience to go through, but the fact that this day ultimately came made it all worthwhile.
On the morning of March 13, 2001, the three fortunate gibbons were set free on the island of Ko Daeng, when Sander van Andel pulled the gate open at ten o'clock. Finally freedom was theirs.
It was a beautiful day in Phang-Nga Bay that marked the beginning of their adventure. From now on Billy, Black, and Cheetah wouldn't have to spend another minute of their life in an enclosure again. First steps were made by Billy, who went out of the cage as soon as we opened the door to experience the beauties of the forest. The second one to start this great adventure was Cheetah, who fled back into her cage. For a short moment she hesitated, a bit uncomfortable with this overwhelming space that was laid there in front of her, ready to grab. Black came out last. She went straight after Jita, the other female of the island. Black was determined to set her territory and chased Jita off to the other side of the island. She did this with incredible speed and nimbleness through the forest canopy. Finally Black could use her skills and her body in the way that it was meant to be used. After a little hesitation Billy and Cheetah followed. They were also anxious to climb into the trees, in highest trees. But of course they never learned that branches can bend or break.
And so... completely inexperienced with her new surroundings, Cheetah fell down to the lower trees from an astonishing height of 8 meters. After moments of tension, she appeared again with her leg all bloody. At first we were shocked, but than we saw that she wasn't even bothered by it, and she moved happily back up into the trees. Mr. Lisa (the male that had been released on this island before) and Jita were both close to the cage and appeared to be surprised and shocked by this event: three more gibbons to share the island with. When the three-chosen-ones came out, there was some aggression. Billy, Black, and Cheetah felt this was their territory, their place to live. Black chased Jita completely out of sight. Cheetah and Billy choose to stay close together and helped each other to defend themselves against this blond gibbon, Mr. Lisa, who had been irritating them all the time they had spent in the acclimatization cages. But Mr. Lisa didn't just run off; he stayed around the cages. At one point, Billy and Cheetah had enough, and they both chased him away. Poor Mr. Lisa felt that it was time to go and fast. So he ran away as fast as his little gibbon legs could carry him over the rocky beach, because he knew that he was faster than any other gibbon on that kind of terrain. The new juveniles already established their own territory around the cage they were brought in exactly one week before (on the 6th of March 2001).
Black returned soon after her big opening. Now they all moved excitedly, energetically - although a bit clumsily - through the trees. The whole release was a sensation for the eyes and stimulation for the mind: to see these Gibbons back in their jungle homewhere they belonged.
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