Volunteering with Go East: Part 2

By my second week on the island I was fully getting into the swing of things, I had learned about the four types of primates that the project was aiming to protect on the island. The Pygmy Loris, the Golden Cheeked Gibbon, the Silver Langer and the Black Shanked Duc. All beautiful creatures and all at risk of extinction due to deforestation, hunting, the illegal pet trade and the use of traditional Chinese medicines.

It was sad to learn the stories behind some of these animals, how two gibbons had been rescued from a tiny cage in a Vietnamise school where they had been continually stressed out and harassed by school children. Or the Pygmy Loris who had been taken from the wild and had his teeth pulled out because there was a chance he might bite his owners. Whatever the story the message was clear these animals don't make make good pets and shouldn't be taken as them.

But at Dao Tien there was hope for them. I watched them play and frolic to their heart's content, safe in the knowledge that one day there was a hope that these animals could be released back into the wild.

I was giving tours by the second week and it was great to know that I was helping to raise awareness about the plight of these animals. I also got to help clean the cages of the gibbons, a fun endevour made even more challenging by the fact that the animals would often try and grab you or your broom while you were cleaning one part of the enclosure.

What really impressed me about the project was that both the Vietnamise and British staff were so hard working, it was very humbling to see how much effort everyone put into the centre and its work.

I also got to see and photograph a bit more of the island itself including the dried out river bed behind our main office. This all had to be done carefully though as the island itself could potentially provide some unforseen hazards. Still by the end of my second week I was very much looking forward to my third week there, when I would finally get to see the gibbons feed in a semi wild environment.

Cat Tien: The importance of preserving Vietnam's wildlife

Shocking fact of the day, there are only 70 wild elephants left in Vietnam. Think about that, its not a very high number. In fact the WWF has advised that Vietnam might be one of the first countries in Asia where elephants actually go completely extinct.

I wanted this update on my blog to be a little different as I wanted to raise awareness of the very real threat that exists to Vietnam's wildlife (and sadly this also extends to alot of wildlife in Asia).

Poaching in Vietnam is rife, with animals like the incredible sweet Pygmy Loris being taken wholesale from the jungle, having their teeth pulled out or clipped (so that they cannot use the venom that is one of their distinct features to defend themselves) and kept as pets for Vietnamese family. The fact that large numbers of them will die of stress or that they in fact do not make very good pets is something that will lead to many of them then being abandoned to die.

The same happens to the rapidly dwindling numbers of Gibbons left in Vietnam. Whose mothers will be shot and killed and whose's babies are then sold as pets. The conditions that they are then kept in leads many to die of malnutrition or to suffer painfully cramped and cruel conditions.

My advise to any Vietnamise reading this blog who want to take one of these creatures as pets is simple, don't. These animals belong in the wild, not in a cage.

Cat Tien is one of the national parks hoping to turn the tide on the destruction of Vietnamise wildlife and forests (which sadly disappear more and more each year). The Gibbon sanctuary there works hard not only to rescue wildlife from conditions such as this but also seeks to rehabilitate them so they can once again enter the wild.

It was one of the few places in Vietnam where I got to see a truly wild area of countryside. I took showers and had stick insects land on my head, almost stepped on snakes, watched fireflies burning in the night, disturbed porcupines on the way to the bathroom and saw more monkeys in the forest then I can count.

But if the people of Vietnam want to keep any of this beauty and wonder then they have to act now. Or else have a future where they have no wildlife left.



If you want to help you can donate to Go East, who are working to protect Vietnam's wildlife:

http://www.go-east.org/