By Nick Marx | Director of Wildlife Programs
Bayon and Tevy, the second gibbon pair in Angkor, with their child, Aping (Tarantula) remain in the area we released them, close to Tweeer Kamouit or Gate of Ghosts. Bayon, the male, is the only gibbon we have ever rescued that came directly from the wild. He was captured by villagers who were cutting down the trees where he lived. He was a young adult when he arrived and is a truly beautiful gibbon. He is large and wellmuscled, having grown up in the forest and has thick black fur. He was more mobile and the early days following his release we feared he may leave Tevy, who was much less adept in the trees. However our continued provision of food at the release site followed by the arrival of Aping in July 2016 has cemented the bond.
Baray, Saranick and their two youngsters, Pingpeeung (Spider) and Chungruth (Cricket) are also well. They remain in the area they prefer, the forest above a small stream near Tanei Temple. There are some large trees here and it is truly a pleasure to watch them enjoying their acrobatics high up in the branches. Gibbons are territorial, requiring an area of around 30 hectares. Langurs, eating mostly leaves, are less so and move around more. It was a surprise to all of us when the langurs turned up at Tanei. The male langur is large and dominant. His authority has never been questioned. When he saw Baray, the male gibbon, he behaved with aggression. Baray, having been born in captivity, has had few encounters with other species and wildlife in Angkor is mostly extirpated due to the heavy hunting that used to take place. He backed off from the langur, who continued to be troublesome. A gibbon’s speed and agility is vastly superior to a langur’s, which eat mostly leaves and therefore do not need to be particularly bright. It soon became apparent to Baray that he did not have much to worry about and pressed home his superiority. Saranick and Pingpeeung joined in and the langurs decided that discretion was the better part of valor and ran off, with the final humiliation, forced to flee along the ground!
By Nick Marx | Director of Wildlife Programs
By Nick Marx | Wildlife Programs Director
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