APRIL 2005
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MACAQUE UPDATE
NEW WATER SYSTEM - Five of our macaque cages have had new water systems installed this month. We have fitted valves which consist of long semi-circles of metal with a round bar in the middle of them. When the bar is depressed this valve releases water. At first the macaques viewed their new cage additions with suspicion and we had to depress the valves with sticks to show them what they were and how to use them. Then the macaques had a go themselves and many were surprised by the water spurting from this strange metal thing in their cages. Over the next month we plan to install similar systems for six more cages with ten more valves in total.
FORAGING ENRICHMENT - Every month we give the macaques foraging enrichment consisting of a round bamboo tube with small holes cut into it. We fill the tube with food and the macaques spend a while working the food out with their fingertips. We are always looking for variations on this idea so as to keep the macaques minds as active as possible and to avoid getting into a routine. Usually we give the macaques only dog food in the tubes but this month we filled the tubes with a mixture of dog food, peanuts and dry leaves. By stuffing dry leaves into the tubes we made the macaques think a little bit more as not everything they pulled out the tube was food. The peanuts were in their shells making the macaques work that little bit harder. The peanuts are also very good as food enrichment as they contain such vitamins as Niacin (Vitamin B3) which are not found in large quantities in their usual diet of fruit and vegetables.
CAGE REFURBISHMENT - Our cage refurbishment has now been completed. During the last two months we have refurbished all of our macaque cages and most of our gibbon cages. We used various perches, ropes, swings and tires.
Kamla is a baby Crab-eating Macaque who was born at the WARED centre at the beginning of March 2004. Her mother died giving birth to her and therefore she was entirely dependant on the dedication of volunteers, intern students and the staff members to hand raise her.
TREATMENT - In order to refurbish a cage we need to remove the animals inside of it and place them into temporary cages. Obviously trapping an animal is a very stressful business and we try to keep the animals as calm as possible. We never chase the animals but we bait a small holding cage with food and wait for the macaques to go into the cage. Unfortunately whilst we were trying to trap a macaque she was bitten by a macaque from an adjacent cage . Although not seriously injured, the small puncture wound was enough to warrant two stitches.
BAT MAN RETURNED - Last month a macaque named Batman was receiving treatment at our veterinary clinic when he escaped. Batman is very scared of humans and soon disappeared from the immediate area. We kept up the search for him and were fairly confident that we would be able to locate him in the near future. After three weeks he was spotted nearby by one of the villagers and we manage to successfully recapture him. The wound that we were treating him for when he escaped had completely healed.
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GIBBONS AND OTHERS
BLOOD TESTING - This month we have taken blood from one of our gibbons to be sent to a lab to be tested for a wide range of diseases. Most of our gibbons have come from the tourist trade where they are used to attract customers into restaurants, bars and clubs or they are used as photo opportunities for tourists.
LORISES - The treatment for the three lorises mentioned in last months newsletter is ongoing.
INTERN STUDENT
DOMESTIC TREATMENT - A cat was brought to us badly injured as a result of a motorbike accident. The resident vets and the vet students examined the cat and found that the hip was dislocated. The vets fixed the leg and bandaged it up with a splint. The cat has been seen around the village recently and has made a full recovery.
GENERAL NEWS
FENCING - We have erected a fence along the Northern boundary of our centre where the new permanent tsunami relief houses are. Hopefully this will help to block out the noise and bright lights at night from these new houses.
RE-ROOFING - Two of our volunteer huts have been re-roofed recently. There is a patchwork of leaves on the rooftops of most of our huts that needs to be replaced every three years. As the monsoon was due to start soon it was a good time to replace the roof so that our volunteers could live in cosy, dry conditions.
ECOTOURISM LECTURE - WAR was invited to give an ecotourism lecture at a nearby village called Hat Sai Khao. Our community workers were focusing on education for a home-stay project.
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The Princess came to our village to observe the progress being made after the Tsunami. She paid a visit to the WARED site to see the presentation board created by our staff. Afterwards she had a tour of the current developments active in the village to aid the recovery of the area. Included in the sites that she inspected were the school and community centre.
ANIMAL UPDATE
Sadly we saw the loss of five of our animals in May. Below we have included images of two of the cases and their post-mortem dissections. The first death was that of Lefty, a Slow Loris. Then Sib-Saam, one of our macaques, died of lung problems but no pathogen was found in the histopathological examination. The third casualty was Pepsi, one of our Hepatitis B positive gibbons.
Our WAR Thai vet Dr. Tum carried out the post mortem at WARED and obtained tissue samples for consideration by the Bangkok hospital pathologist. The report we received a few weeks later indicated the cause of death to be extensive liver infection and abcessation with necrosis. Again no specific organism was isolated at the time of the test. We have also discovered that the neighbouring forest is home to a female civet and her three babies. The sighting of the family is good news as an indicator of biodiversity in this area. Unfortunately, the final piece of bad news for May occurred on the nights of 14 th and 15 th when our two rabbits, Killer and Fluffy were taken by the civets.
GENERAL NEWS
Our new office is now under construction. We are trying to complete it as soon as possible as it is already rainy season. Everything must be moved and kept away from moisture. The plastering is finished and the next job will be to construct the ceiling. After that we must paint all surfaces, lay the ceramic floor, install a new electrical system and bring in all the new furnishings. Elsewhere on the site - volunteer huts, kitchens and other buildings will have new signs hung by the end of this month.
The tsunami caused extensive damage to the mangrove forest that surrounds Baan Thalaenork. At the beginning of June, Ood, our member of staff concerned with developments in the local community, carried out a survey of the affected areas by boat. The photos ( N and O ) below illustrate the severity of the destruction. It is important to assay the problems and monitor the progress of regeneration over the coming months.
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MACAQUE UPDATE
Soi-ngoen, one of our female macaques resident in cage fourteen, was spotted late this month nursing an injured right hind leg. It was hard to ascertain the extent of the problem by observation alone and she was subsequently captured and placed in a small temporary cage up by our clinic. As our vet Dr. Tum was staying at WARED at the time he was able to sedate and examine her immediately. It appears she had received several deep bites from another macaque and wounds were found around her hock and foot. With the help of our staff he cleaned and treated the damaged areas and she is now recuperating. We will keep her separated from the others until the skin has knitted well and is unlikely to tear or become infected again.
GIBBON UPDATE
At the beginning of the month Joi was moved to Pepsi's old cage as cage eighteen, his previous home that he had shared with three other gibbons (Tip, Jun and Tong), is damaged and not secure. Joi is known as something of a Houdini and we can keep a close eye on any escape attempts in his new location. He has settled well and is now living next door to one of our Hepatitis B positive gibbons, Mona. The other three have been moved to cage twenty-two.
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COMUNITY UPDATE
Earlier in June we were visited by a lecturer who came to aid the establishment of a village co-operative here in Baan Thalaenork. The scheme will hopefully increase the shared income of the area. The idea behind it, as he explained, is that shares will be offered for purchase at a nominal cost and villagers can buy whatever proportion they wish. The communal pool of money obtained this way can be distributed and spent as required depending on the projects running. Individuals may also borrow some of the accumulated funds in emergencies and pay it back when they have the means (with some interest). Annual dividends will also be paid to those participating out of any profit made. It is hoped this could increase development here in a sustainable and fair way that would benefit everyone.
On the 29 th June Nut, one of our staff members who lives in the area, guided a group of other WARED staff and volunteers through the surrounding forest beyond the animal cages. The objective of the day trek was to assess the immediate environment of the centre and its potential as a destination for small-scale ecotourism. It was necessary to clear a lot of thick vegetation from the trail especially at this time of year when the rains make everything grow richly. We were looking for possible camping areas and viewpoints along the way...
GENERAL NEWS
Three species not commonly encountered at WARED have been spotted this month. Firstly we came upon a Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus sp.). There are several species resident in this area and we know approximately how many live close by but have been unable to accurately survey the groupings due to the difficulty of trapping and identifying them. This particular individual flew into a light near our centre and was stunned temporarily allowing us to take the picture you see below. We also found a juvenile Cinnamon Bittern ( Ixobrychus cinnamomeus ) that also collided with a light on our site. It was probably aiming for insects circling nearby. Again, it was stunned briefly but we checked it over and photographed it before allowing it to fly away. On the night of the 28 th we discovered a young Common Palm Civet ( Paradoxurus hermarphoditus ) by the side of the road approaching Baan Thalaenork. The lack of rigor mortis indicated the civet had probably been dead less than an hour. We buried him in the grounds of the sanctuary.
On 18 th June all the staff of WAR gathered in Bangkok for a conference. Our board of directors was also in attendance giving them a rare chance to get a good overview of everything. Our staff are quite dispersed around the country and do not often get the opportunity to meet like this. We discussed the progress made with all of our projects and future plans.
The construction is almost complete and all the furniture from the old office up at the main road has been transferred down to the centre and arranged in its new place. The office is now looking much more organized and is in full use as shown by photos below. Everyone is very pleased with it.
Following on from last month's update we are continuing to set up many new signs at various locations around the centre as illustrated below. Our staff are currently in the process of hand-painting the wooden plaques we are using.
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