Baby gibbon fostered by Victoria University student
A Victoria University Masters student became an impromptu foster mother for an endangered baby gibbon during his studies in Cambodia.
A Victoria University Masters student became an impromptu foster mother for an endangered baby gibbon during his studies in Cambodia.
Ecology student Naven Hon discovered the infant ape, believed to be one year old or less, all alone. Hon and an assistant were researching gibbons in the Veun Sai-Siem Pang Conservation area when they came across the highly endangered animal on Thursday.
The Northern Buff-cheeked Gibbon baby was hanging off a small tree when they spotted it, Hon said. "It seemed not ill, but scared and skinny," he told university supervisor Ken Ryan.
It should have been part of a group, but there was no sign of this group or the gibbon's mother, he said. Fearing the mother was injured or dead, the pair brought it back to the research station, and it was kept warm in an insulated bag. Being too young to be weaned from its mother, Hon tested out a few foods, including infant formula, fresh milk and bananas.
"He seems to like drinking milk rather than banana."
Hon returned to the area where the infant was found to search for its mother, but with no luck, the gibbon was transported to the Phnom Tamao wildlife rescue centre on Monday. "I hope it can survive with special care."
The species has a small range in south Vietnam, Laos and north-east Cambodia, and is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.