In the 1990s and early 2000s, when displaying wild animals in bars was part of Thailand’s often seedy nightlife scene, young gibbons were sometimes taught to smoke, drink alcohol and eat human food. Wiek’s wildlife centre in Phetchaburi Province has released nearly a dozen gibbons in northern Thailand and is seeking government approval to release 50 more in an area near the sanctuary. “We didn’t know how to do it.”But space is tight at the gibbon centre and in the Phuket jungle itself. The centre, an aging, cramped facility in the government-protected Khao Pra Theaw forest, has cages for about three dozen gibbons. A wild gibbon population needs about 200 animals, experts say, if it is to survive in the long term.

Source: bd News24 December 22, 2020 07:30 UTC