Gibbons

Seven recognized gibbon taxa are distributed across Kalimantan, Java, Sumatra and the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia, all of which were recently reassessed as Endangered using IUCN Red List criteria. To address these issues, an Indonesian Gibbon Conservation and Management Workshop was convened on 20-22 February 2008 at Lido Resort in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.

Rehabilitation and translocation programmes are increasingly becoming an important component of conservation action plans for threatened species. Translocation can help address gibbon conservation issues (gibbons are recognized as one of the most threatened primate families globally) by allowing gibbons held in captivity to be rescued, rehabilitated and then returned to the wild.

This report presents an assessment of the trade in gibbons and orang-utans in Sumatra, Indonesia, including the islands off Sumatra’s west coast (most notably, the Mentawai Islands).