Life is a little harder at gibbon sanctuary

[Guest guest]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/190502_News/19May2002_news08.html

 

Bangkok Post, 19 May 2002

 

Life is a little harder at gibbon sanctuary

 

Despite tragedy, the good work goes on

 

Supamart Kasem

 

Poranee Chotiros moved back from the United States to Thailand with her

American husband William Emeral Deters 11 years ago, built a home in Tak's

Phop Phra district, and dreamed of a peaceful life after retirement.

 

 

But a wounded baby gibbon set their lives on a new course, which ended last

week in tragedy.

 

Chester, a gibbon weak and in great pain from a gunshot wound to his finger,

was sold to Mrs Poranee for 500 baht by Hmong hilltribesmen.

 

It was the first animal to come under the care of the Highland Farm and the

Private Gibbon Conservation Project, now home to 36 gibbons, 11 of them

crippled; and peacocks, monkeys, rabbits, turkeys, geese, dogs and several

types of birds.

 

Mrs Poranee, 54, still in good spirits after Mr Deters, 69, was killed a

week ago by a Burmese worker, said she would continue to run the farm and

save the gibbons.

 

``I hope I will not come up against a brick wall,'' she said.

 

Mrs Poranee said she felt obliged to save Chester's life. She took it to a

vet and sought tips on rearing gibbons at several zoos.

 

The animal, whose name was changed to Miss Chester after Mrs Poranee found

out it was female, was healed. At the same time, the Deters' fondness and

compassion for the gibbons had grown.

 

 

Their hearts ached when they saw gibbons chained or caged during the day and

made to perform in bars at night, the time they should be asleep.

 

``People give them beer. At 2am or 3am they are still drunk. No wonder those

gibbons live no more than two years,'' Mrs Poranee said.

 

Rampant abuse of the gibbons made the Deters want to protect them.

 

They built a shelter on their 76-rai Highland Farm on the Mae Sot-Umphang

highway, where they also grew fruit _ banana, lamyai, lychee and jackfruit _

to feed the animals.

 

A book distributed at Mr Deters' funeral in Mae Sot district said the number

of gibbons in Thai jungles had shrunk to less than 6,000 from hundreds of

thousands three decades ago.

 

Without conservation efforts, gibbons would become extinct within the next

20 years, it said.

 

Friends and visitors spread the news that Highland Farm would take gibbons

which were abandoned, sick, blind or crippled.

 

Mrs Poranee said sometimes she and her husband drove to Mae Hong Son, Chiang

Mai, Chiang Rai or even Bangkok to pick up animals from people who no longer

wanted them.

 

Eventually they had to stop taking such long trips because their three cars

were too old.

 

Mrs Poranee said she had a 35-year-old Land Rover, a 22-year-old Ford

pick-up and a 10-year-old Nissan station wagon and for years had tried to

find someone to donate a four-wheel drive vehicle, to no avail.

 

Highland Farm, opened in 1991, was funded from Mr Deters' pension until last

November, when Ford Motor (Thailand) Co awarded the Deters conservation and

environmental grants.

 

Ford's cash reward solved the problem of water shortage at the farm, located

at the end of a stream.

 

The cash was invested in an artesian well, water pumps and an irrigation

system.

 

In the past 11 years, more than 30,000 visitors, most of them children and

hill-tribe people, have visited the farm. Admission is free, while donations

are most welcome.

 

Mrs Poranee said volunteers and students wanting to get first-hand

experience in rearing gibbons and other animals had also visited.

 

Students and volunteers came from the United States, Canada, England,

Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina _ to

study the behaviour of various animals, feed them and clean them.

 

``But no Thais have ever come to learn about the gibbons,'' Mrs Poranee

said.

 

She said several volunteers had written theses about the project.

 

Mrs Poranee said Abraham Osterloh, 24, a Dutch volunteer who survived the

May 10 incident in which her husband and four other people were murdered,

had pledged to donate 400,000 baht for a conservation fund for gibbons and

other wildlife.

 

In January, Jim and Alison Cronin, owners of a monkey rescue centre in

England and hosts of a programme on the Animal Planet channel, visited

Highland Farm and stayed there for several days.

 

After their return, they sent Paul Budgen to build a large cage worth 40,000

baht for the farm, Mrs Poranee said.

 

Mr Deters, known as Uncle Bill to many children and Khun Por Farang by his

employees, was shot dead by Maung Htwe, 19, a Burmese worker Mr Deters

sacked who came back to take revenge.

 

Maung Htwe also took the lives of a Thai housekeeper, Ratchanee Sonkhamleu,

26, her three-year-old daughter, Athitaya, a Hmong, Laeng sae Yang, and a

Thai worker, Subin.

 

A Buddhist, Mr Deters was a Vietnam War veteran holding the rank of

lieutenant-colonel when he quit the army to join the aviation company,

Lockheed Co.

 

At the time of his retirement he was general manager of the company's

computer department.

 

In an interview with Sydney-based Sunday Telegraph Travel, Mr Deters had

said: ``Anywhere in Thailand, you can walk for 30-40 minutes to reach a

village. Villagers kill adult gibbons to get their babies and sell them. An

average 10 adult females are killed to get one live baby.''

 

Once he told the Thai press: ``I know Thai people are kind-hearted and

compromising. However, I don't like trespassing, stealing, keeping water

only for one's own use, the bad smell and pollution in this country.

 

``I want Thai people to love the trees, wild animals and help grow trees for

this country's own future.''