Gibbon Rehabilitation Project

It’s a well known fact that a large part of Phuket’s tourism industry is focused on the exploitation of animals. What if I told you that there is a place that disagrees with those practices. A Place with volunteers who work tirelessly to help reverse the effect of these terrible practices. Well there is: The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project.

Established in 1992 by Mr Noppadol Preuksawanthe, former Chief of the Royal Forest Department, in hopes to stop the extinction of the Gibbon due to illegal poaching and reintroduce captive Gibbons back into the wild. Every year in Phuket hunters kill around 3,000 helpless Gibbons as they try to trap the babies to sell for tourism purposes. On average 3 Gibbon families are killed just to trap one baby.

The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, which is located in the forests surrounding Ban Pae Waterfall, is working to protect the Gibbons in their natural habitat by rehabilitation of the primates as well as by educating the public on the dangers of poaching these intelligent creatures.

The new Gibbons are kept in quarantine until they have been tested for disease, treated for injuries and thoroughly checked out by the veterinary staff. After that they moved to large, spacious cages close to the centre for observation and slow introduction to nature. Once they are comfortable in their surroundings and the team deems them fit for rehabilitation they are moved deeper into the jungle and prepared for the release. They receive 24 hour monitoring to ensure they are ready, willing and able to start their new lives.

The centre is open daily from 9am until 4:30pm. There is no fee for the centre but there is a small fee of 200 baht to enter the Bang Pae Park where the centre is located. While visitors are encouraged to come and see the centre and learn about Gibbons and what they can do to help, the staff would like to make it clear that this is not a petting zoo. Guests are welcome to take photos (without flash) and interact with the Gibbons but listen to the staff and do not try to feed or touch them. Remember, these mammals are in the process of being rehabilitated and as such need to stay wild so you will be asked to keep a safe distance from the cages.

The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project is a non-government organization and as such is always looking for donations and volunteers. There are many ways to help the project including adopting a gibbon, visiting the centre and buying their merchandise, donating money online or simply just donating your time.