IPPL Helps Abandoned Silvery Gibbons

September 2007

IPPL has provided an emergency grant of $2,000 to International Animal Rescue (IAR) to help care for a group of 19 silvery gibbons living at the Cikananga Rescue Center, West Java, Indonesia. The center is being run by IAR but has lately suffered from a sharp decrease in financial support, due to the loss of a major donor. The rare gibbons living at the center are in danger of dying from neglect, now that the former funder is no longer helping them.

Silvery gibbons, also known as Javan or moloch gibbons, belong to a species that is already close to extinction due to shrinking habitat and the poaching of mothers to get their beautiful babies into the pet trade. The survivors of the pet trade or other confiscated animals sometimes end up in sanctuaries like Cikananga.

Until recently, things looked very good for Indonesia’s network of animal rescue centers. Cikananga and several other centers used to have secure and generous funding from the Gibbon Foundation, which was run by Willie Smits, a Dutch resident of Indonesia. The foundation’s funds came mainly from the estate of the late multi-millionairess Puck Schmutzer and, besides funding for the rescue centers, large sums were expended to build the luxurious Schmutzer Primate Center inside the appalling Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta. Four gorillas were imported from a British zoo for the Schmutzer Center.

The foundation was incorporated in the small nation of Liechtenstein and held its money in a Swiss bank account, so IPPL was never able to locate financial reports. Now that its funds have mysteriously dried up, the sanctuary animals are suffering.

Spanish veterinarian Karmele Llano Sanchez, who has worked in several of Indonesia’s primate sanctuaries, informed IPPL that the situation for the gibbons at Cikananga is grim: “Currently, the food given to these gibbons is scarce and so they are suffering of starvation. Additionally, no enrichment is provided and they have never been socialized in couples.” She said that funds from IPPL will be used to help feed the gibbons and house them in pairs (as they are in the wild) instead of in isolation. With this improvement in their health and welfare, they may be able to be transported to a more stable living situation in the future.

Won’t You Help Nakola? Hello, My friends call me Nakola. I am a silvery gibbon. Life has not treated me well. I used to live in a forest in Java, Indonesia, but poachers who didn’t care that I belonged to an endangered species shot my mother and took me to a market to sell as a pet. My owners didn’t really know how to care for me, so I ended up with rickets, a bone disease that comes from not enough calcium and not enough sunshine. Eventually I ended up the Cikananga Rescue Center in Malang, Java. I used to be well cared for here, but now the center doesn’t seem to have enough money to feed me and my 18 other silvery gibbon friends. And I’d really like a larger home—and maybe even a boyfriend! I’ve learned that there is a group called IPPL that has lots of members who feel compassion for stranded gibbons like me. Will you help me and my friends? Please send your gift to IPPL, P.O. BOX 766, Summerville, SC 29484, USA. Mark it “For the Silvery Gibbon Fund.” The people at IPPL have promised to give me every dollar you send. Love, Nakola Gibbon