Take the lead in primate conservation

THIS could well be the plot of a blockbuster Hollywood movie: The world is on the brink of a catastrophe that our great country is in a unique position to solve.

Averting this crisis will require bravery, the honesty to admit our limitations, and willingness to ask others to help.

Will our nation rise to the challenge and save the day?

The emergency we’re facing is biological. Sixty percent of the world’s primates are on the verge of extinction. Our fellow primates, monkeys, slow lorises and apes – our closest animal relatives – are in dire trouble and only we can save them.

Malaysia is world renowned as a primate diversity hotspot with 25 species, but 24 of those are threatened and disappearing before our very eyes. This is because poaching and the illegal wildlife trade is rampant, as is the exploitation of our primates by thoughtless Malaysians who keep them as pets in tiny cages for personal amusement or abuse them as photo props, dressed up as humans performing tricks and stunts at road shows, to gain personal profit.

But we can save our primates through enforcement and by rehabilitating those that are rescued.

To do this, Malaysia desperately needs a primate rehabilitation centre since, shockingly, we are the only South-East Asian nation without one. And we’ll need the help of external experts, such as NGOs, to create and operate it, as is being done in other countries.

Working in partnership with Perhilitan, whose mission is to rescue wildlife, a separate rehabilitation centre needs to be set up to provide proper care, nutrition and training for rescued primates to prepare them to survive in the forest on their own again.

Perhilitan will soon open a new rescue centre to temporarily house rescued animals, which is a laudable effort and hopeful first step. But since it is not their mission to rehabilitate and release primates – and since they lack the necessary expertise, specialised facilities, time and money to do so – those in their care will not be able to survive in the wild. This is why the creation of a separate rehabilitation centre is so crucial to save our primates from extinction.

The dedicated work of one exemplary Malaysian, Mariani Ramli, is proving to be a shining example for the promising possibilities for primate rehabilitation in Malaysia. For the past five years, and with Perhilitan’s permission, she’s been rehabilitating six rescued gibbons at her home. She’s nursed each back from the edge of death and all are well on their way through their seven-year rehabilitation process. One day, all will be able to be returned to the wild and will help rebuild the endangered gibbon population in our forests. Mariani’s efforts have proven that rehabilitation for primates is not only possible but that it’s also a necessity for Malaysia.

We must save our primates to save ourselves. If our apes, monkeys and lorises disappear from our rainforests, the health of our forests will collapse since primates play a crucial role in the ecosystems in which they live by spreading seeds and pollen. Without our jungles and rainforests to clean our air and absorb rainfall, the devastation to humans will be unprecedented.

So what will the end of this movie-like scenario be? Will Malaysia and our leaders accept the challenge and become heroes by asking NGOs to help build a primate rehabilitation centre?

Will we step up enforcement efforts to curb poaching and trafficking, and prosecute people who keep primates as pets?

We have the rare chance to show the world the strength of our convictions to be an international leader in the fight to save primates from extinction. It’s up to all of us to demand the kind of happy Hollywood ending that we – and our primates – deserve. PROFESSOR DR MAKETAB MOHAMED Immediate Past President Malaysian Nature Society