From the Loss of a Sister to the Loss of a Family

From the Loss of a Sisterto the Loss ofa Family

Story Nikki Dokken

Gibbon Adoption Programmewill help them to be free and providebasic necessities like food and health care

WildAnimalrescue

T h e W i l d A n i m a l R e s c u e F o u n d a t i o n o f T h a i l a n d 6 5 / 1 3 r d F l o o r , S u k h u m v i t 5 5 , K l o n g t o n , W a t t a n a , B a n g k o k 1 0 1 1 0

T e l . + 6 6 2 7 1 2 9 7 1 5 E m a i l : w a r @ w a r t h a i . o r g

Page 1

From the Loss of a Sister to the Loss of a Family Story Nikki Dokken

Here is my disclaimer to the readers. This is not a

feel good, heart-warming story. It is a true story

nonetheless, and one that should be told. This is the

reality of what those who work and volunteer in the animal

welfare sector live through on a daily basis. These are also

the trials and tribulations that the animals go through

themselves, and usually because of humans. Activities

such as poaching, using animals as tourist attractions,

keeping wild animals as pets for our own personal

enjoyment at the animals expense, and destroying their

home and habitat so that we can make money affect other

lives in ways that we do not even think about. This is the story of Mary, but also of her family, and the

successes and failures that both her family and those humans that cared for them experienced.

Mary was born at the GRP on the 1st of October 2002. She was the third baby of Bird (father)

and Pompam (mother), who had successfully raised two other babies (Mai and Sabai). Pompam’s

pregnancy was healthy, but when it came time to give birth problems arose. Pompam was unable to

deliver Mary naturally, and a caesarian was performed. When Mary came out she was cold and white

and not moving. She was believed to be a still born. However, after a minute Mary started to breathe

on her own, and she was quickly warmed and shown to Pompam. After Pompam’s ordeal though, she

wanted nothing to do with Mary. For two days we tried to place Mary near Pompam, but Pompam

would have nothing to do with her. At this point it was decided to remove Mary from Pompam and

hand raise her ourselves.

Mary 1st

day Trying to introduce baby to Mother



Page 2

Mary Smith with 4 days old Mary

Mary was a lovely, well behaved baby who quickly won over everyone’s heart. She was actually

named after the wife of the British ambassador, Mary Smith, who had been helping with the foundation

during her time in Thailand, and who took a particular shine to the baby. All was going well so far. Mary

was doing well in the care of GRP and her family was doing well living at the rehabilitation site. Bird and

Pompam had another baby, Yoge, who Pompam was an excellent mother to. Their first son Mai had

been unsuccessfully released with a group of juvenile males, but had been caught and brought back to

the rehabilitation site where he was living with a mate. With the family doing well, they were scheduled

for release in 2005. In the wake of all this good news however, a chain of events were about to occur

that would tear the family apart (more so than it already was).

Mary at 10 days old 4 month old Mary

After just a few months in the forest Bird went missing, never to be found again. In just a few

more days’ time Pompam also went missing, only to be found a few days later, killed by poachers. This

was particularly worrisome as they had two young who could not survive on their own in the forest.

There was to be a silver lining somewhat, as the Arun family (another group of released gibbons) was

willing to adopt Yoge into their family. Unfortunately, they were not willing to take his sister Sabai.



Page 3

Sabai was caught and brought back to the rehabilitation site where she could try to have a family of her

own for a future release. Sadly though, Sabai died of pneumonia in 2008, never having a baby or the

chance to be released again.

Mary’s family in their acclimatization cage Mary’s family in the forest

Going back to Mary at the quarantine site of GRP, she was growing at a healthy rate, and had

started interacting with other gibbons and was able to be caged with other gibbons of a similar age. She

was getting along well with them, until one day she was found in the bottom of her cage with her cage

mates sitting on her. It was subsequently found that Mary suffered from epilepsy. It was not safe for

her to have a seizure and be sat on, so she had to be moved from her friends into a cage on her own.

This is certainly not an ideal situation as gibbons live in social groups, but for her health it had to be

done.

Mary and her friend Rhumthai

Mary spent her life at the quarantine site where she was still able to see other gibbons and sing

with them. She had a daily regime of medication which was keeping her seizures at bay, only

experiencing minor seizures about once a month. Sadly, of course, her brother Mai went blind and had

to leave his family. On the bright side though, Mai was moved into a cage next to Mary where they



Page 4

were able to sing to each other. Mary was quite active and loved swinging around her cage, although I

think her favorite activity was to throw her food basket on the ground, have someone put it back on her

cage, then throw it to the ground again as soon as they turned their back. This was a game that Mary

enjoyed greatly, although it wasn’t so fun for the staff and volunteers.

Mary in her forever home in quarantine

Then once again tragedy struck and Mary was found lying in the bottom of her cage on the 24th

of May, 2010. She had had a seizure during the night which caused her to stop breathing, and she was

unable to be resuscitated. Walking into the quarantine site that morning it was clear that something

was not right. The gibbons were all quiet, and looking in the direction of Mary’s cage. They knew that

something had happened even before we did.

This death came as a great surprise and a great loss to all the staff and volunteers at GRP. So

many people had spent so much time raising her and caring for her, their hearts were a part of hers. To

see a baby grow up, and go through so much misfortune, yet still be able to enjoy the small joys of life

(like throwing a food basket on the ground) is an inspiration of what we should be like. Mary’s cage sits

empty as a reminder of the emptiness in our hearts without her around. Our last hope in this family

which tragedy has befallen so continuously is Yoge. Yoge continues to do well with his adoptive family

in the forest, and has been seen numerous times with a female from another family. We can only hope

that the chain of misfortune ends with Yoge, and he can carry on for his family.

Despite all the sadness that this story carries with it, it is an important story to be told so that

we can learn from our mistakes. The truth is currently that this is a very common story for the majority

of (if not all) gibbons in captivity. While it is true that there certainly are some happy endings and

successful releases, none of those happy endings come without some misfortune at some point. In the

case of Mary and her family we can trace the chain of events back to one particularly important factor

that caused this all to spin out of control. Firstly, if Bird and Pompam wouldn’t have been kept as pets,

none of this would have occurred. But somebody paid somebody else for them, encouraging that

person that caught Bird and Pompam to catch more gibbons to sell as pets. The misfortune could have

ended there though, and the GRP could have taken over and released this family. But humans stepped



Page 5

in again, this time in the form of poaching. If Pompam (and possibly Bird) hadn’t of been poached this

family could have survived in the wild. Of course things will always happen that we can’t control,

gibbons will die of natural causes, and families won’t survive. Gibbons in the wild already have enough

to worry about to survive, there’s no reason why humans need to be another worry for them. As the

old saying goes, “If you don’t know history you are doomed to repeat it”. Let’s learn from our mistakes

so that this story does not need to keep being told, but only with different characters. We can

contribute to not letting this happen again by not keeping wild animals as pets (no matter how cute they

are or how much we “love” them), not going to shows that use wild animals, not supporting the

photographer on the beach with the cute baby animal, or buying products made from wild animals.

While this particular story was about gibbons, it translates to all animals, everything from lizards and

birds, to elephants and tigers. Remember, even if it’s only your own personal choice not to support this,

that’s still one less person that isn’t contributing to the destruction of lives and families, and that does

make a difference.

Dedicated to our beloved “Mary” (October 2002-May 2010)

The Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand ( WARF)

May 2010

Subscriptions: contact

Email: [email protected]

Photographs courtesy of WARF Staff and Volunteers neither graphics nor text maybe produced without WARF's express written consent.

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

From the Loss of a Sister to the Loss of a Family