SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT NEWSLETTER December 2012 PRESIDENT’S REPORT Dear Members and Friends Welcome to the 2012 Christmas edition of the Silvery Gibbon Project (SGP) newsletter. Thank you to everyone who attended our recent Annual General Meeting. We were very pleased to present the years activities and share our goals for the coming year. Thank you to those of you who sent messages of support in relation to the incidents at Javan Gibbon Centre (JGC) earlier in the year. We are happy to report that Jeffrey‟s partner Nancy has been successfully paired with young male Moli and her condition and behaviour has improved significantly. We hope that we will be able to support JGC with more effective protection strategies for future releases. All of this takes funding of course so we would be grateful of any assistance that you may be able to provide. Christmas is a great time to make a gift or donation to a cause you care about. We are offering some fantastic gift certificates this year as well as our usual adoption, membership and merchandise options. These make great Christmas presents for family and friends (refer pages 4 and 5). SGP was enormously grateful to be a part of the Evening for the Animals gala held in October. The event was a huge success and it was an honour to share the gibbon‟s story with some new listeners. Thank you to Rebecca Tilbrook and her organising team for giving the gibbons a helping hand! In Wildlife Asia news, we are offering an incredible wildlife adventure tour in March next year. I will be leading the tour to visit Asia‟s Big 5 - Bornean Orangutan, Sumatran Rhino, Sunbear, Elephant and Silvery Gibbon. This is an absolute unique opportunity to see some of these species and should be a fantastic trip. Participants will be required to provide $1000 in fundraising sponsorship on top of trip costs which will greatly assist our projects. If you are interested in coming along please check out our website and Facebook page for more details. To celebrate the Christmas season this year we have a wine drive through Lancaster wines. Hurry to get your orders in now! Finally, thank you to those of you who continued to support SGP throughout the year. Your funds are essential for us to continue our work and we look forward to catching you at one of our events in the New Year. Wishing you all a very safe and enjoyable Christmas and holiday period. Take care Clare Campbell President, Silvery Gibbon Project The SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT PO BOX 335 COMO 6952 WESTERN AUSTRALIA Website: www.silvery.org.au E-mail: [email protected]Phone: 0438992325 December 2012 Evening for the Animals Gala
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SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT NEWSLETTER Page 1 December 2012
PRESIDENT’S REPORT Dear Members and Friends
Welcome to the 2012 Christmas edition of the Silvery Gibbon Project (SGP) newsletter. Thank you to everyone who attended our recent Annual General Meeting. We were very pleased to present the years activities and share our goals for the coming year. Thank you to those of you who sent messages of support in relation to the incidents at Javan Gibbon Centre (JGC) earlier in the year. We are happy to report that Jeffrey‟s partner Nancy has been successfully paired with young male Moli and her condition and behaviour has improved significantly. We hope that we will be able to support JGC with more effective protection strategies for future releases. All of this takes funding of course so we would be grateful of any assistance that you may be able to provide. Christmas is a great time to make a gift or donation to a cause you care about. We are offering some fantastic gift certificates this year as well as our usual adoption, membership and merchandise options. These make great Christmas presents for family and friends (refer pages 4 and 5). SGP was enormously grateful to be a part of the Evening for the Animals gala held in October. The event was a huge success and it was an honour to share the gibbon‟s story with some new listeners. Thank you to Rebecca Tilbrook and her organising team for giving the gibbons a helping hand! In Wildlife Asia news, we are offering an incredible wildlife adventure tour in March next year. I will be leading the tour to visit Asia‟s Big 5 - Bornean Orangutan, Sumatran Rhino, Sunbear, Elephant
and Silvery Gibbon. This is an absolute unique opportunity to see some of these species and should be a fantastic trip. Participants will be required to provide $1000 in fundraising sponsorship on top of trip costs which will greatly assist our projects. If you are interested in coming along please check out our website and Facebook page for more details.
To celebrate the Christmas season this year we have a wine drive through Lancaster wines. Hurry to get your orders in now! Finally, thank you to those of you who continued to support SGP throughout the year. Your funds are essential for us to continue our work and we look forward to catching you at one of our events in the New Year. Wishing you all a very safe and enjoyable Christmas and holiday period. Take care Clare Campbell President, Silvery Gibbon Project
SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT NEWSLETTER Page 2 December 2012
LISA ROET EXHIBITION
In October, SGP President, Clare Campbell opened artist Lisa Roet‟s exhibition at the New Albion Gallery in Sydney. The event presented an opportunity to connect art, conservation and music. Lisa‟s world renowned representation of primates in her artwork, as well as a unique performance from Kyla Allen showcased the qualities and charm of gibbons and gave us the opportunity to raise awareness about their plight. The evening was attended by about 100 people. Thanks so much to Lisa Roet and the New Albion Gallery for the opportunity to share our message.
WILDLIFE ASIA - WA FIRST BIRTHDAY In late November, Wildlife Asia celebrated our first birthday with an afternoon tea at Parliament House in Sydney. We had the opportunity to update supporters on SGP projects. WA Partnerships Manager is working hard to establish long term supporters for the project in a fairly difficult economic climate. We of course are competing with so many worthy causes in the charity market however we believe that WA offers an appealing package to individual donors and corporations interested in wildlife and habitat conservation.
SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT QUIZ NIGHT
On the 14th September, the Silvery Gibbon Project held a quiz night fundraiser at the Collins Street Centre, South Perth. Despite not having a quiz night for some time it turned out to be a very popular event. It appears we have quite a few quiz enthusiasts amongst our members with tickets selling out two weeks before the event. Everyone enjoyed the evening hosted by local stand-up entertainer Bluey Von Steiger. Not only did we have many curly questions but also games like heads and tails, toss the coin at the bottle, plus a raffle, bar, auction and bake-sale. We would like to thank everyone who attended the event, Bluey Von Steiger for giving up his time to MC the evening and to all our Sponsors (listed on page 3) who provided fantastic prizes for the evening.
Wildlife Asia 1st Birthday Celebration Cake
SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT NEWSLETTER Page 3 December 2012
Our goals, raising awareness to the plight of gibbons and raising much needed funds to continue supporting gibbon conservation, were achieved. We hope this will become an annual fundraiser, so keep an eye out for upcoming events next year! Katie Saunders
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR QUIZ NIGHT SPONSORS:
Kingsway Tavern
Rigby’s Bar, The Forest Centre, Perth CBD
SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT NEWSLETTER Page 4 December 2012
CHRISTMAS WINE DRIVE – PLACE YOUR ORDERS BEFORE 10 DECEMBER A reminder that once again this year, SGP is running a wine drive in the lead up to Christmas. An order form and description of wines is attached. A portion of every purchase goes to the Silvery Gibbon Project to assist in its efforts to save Silvery Gibbons from extinction. This year we arranged to have mixed cartons (2 x 6) available. Simply fill in your order and send to us at [email protected] or post to PO Box 335, Como WA 6952. Please note that last orders are due on 10 December and pickups will be at the Operations Building, Perth Zoo (corner Angelo and Onslow Streets, South Perth) on either Saturday 15 December or Tuesday 18 December, between 10:00am – 2:00pm on both days. Cheques should be made out to Lancaster Wines. Please feel free to pass this message around to family and friends. Thanks again for your support Jeff Beaton
GO WITHOUT FOR GIBBONS COMMITTEE CHALLENGE Most of us are very privileged to live secure and comfortable lives surrounded by luxuries. But for many gibbons facing daily threats like deforestation, poaching and captive mistreatment, life is not that comfortable and easy. Join us in the month of February 2013 as the entire SGP committee takes on the “Go Without for Gibbons” Challenge. This is a fundraising test where each of us will go without a luxury “item” in our life for the entire month and donate the money we would have spent to Gibbon conservation and protection. Some of us are going without chocolate, alcohol, dinners out, fashion shopping, magazines etc. The possibilities are endless. (See sponsor sheet attached). We would like to invite you and your friends, family and colleagues to join us on this challenge. Start thinking of something you could go without for the month and donate the money instead to SGP. You can also ask those around you to sponsor you. Please let us know your challenge if you would like us to include your pledge along with our own on our Facebook page. Otherwise you could sponsor a member of the committee throughout this challenge! Take a look at our Facebook page and emails closer to the date to discover everyone‟s sacrifices and choose who you would like to sponsor. At the end of the month we can all indulge and have a laugh as the Silvery Gibbon Project plans to host a comedy night fundraiser on 1st March. We hope to see you all there!
SAVE THIS DATE
The Silvery Gibbon Project will be hosting another
SILVERY GIBBON PROJECT NEWSLETTER Page 6 December 2012
TARSIERS: A BRIEF PROFILE Tarsiers are small forest-dwelling primates inhabiting the islands of Southeast Asia, namely Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi and the Philippines. They have lived for around 45 million years, and were once common in many parts of the world but now restricted to an arc of forests and mangrove scrub in the Southeast Asian tropics. Data on Tarsiers is inadequate to make accurate assessments of species determination and population demographics, but it is currently believed that there are 18 sub-species of Tarsier, all belonging to the genus Tarsius. The name Tarsier is taken from „tarsus‟, the ankle bone, which is especially elongated in Tarsiers. Tarsiers perch on bamboo and narrow tree trucks approximately 2m above the ground, and can leap an extraordinary distance – up to 40 times their own body length. They have long digits, tipped with rounded pads that allow them to cling easily to trees.
The average adult is small enough to fit comfortably in the human hand, and some are smaller than that. Tarsiers give birth to a single offspring at a time and forage for insects and small vertebrates. They are nocturnal, relying on huge eyes and acute hearing to hunt and to survive. They can swivel their heads almost 180 degrees in each direction, effectively giving them 360 degree vision without having to move their bodies. Their eyes, the largest eye-to-body size ratio of all mammals, each weighs more than its brain. Large membranous are constantly moving, allowing the Tarsier to hear any movement. They are able to keenly sense the presence of a potential predator, and often use their strong hind legs to leap to safety. The combination of their unusual physical features inspired the character Yoda in the Star Wars films. Tarsiers can live up to 24 years in the wild but less than half that in captivity. Many die within days of being captured, and captive Tarsiers tend to suffer significant illnesses and injuries. Introduced cats have impacted Tarsier populations, but a more significant impact has been habitat destruction from logging and plantation industries. Many of the Tarsier species are endangered, and all have suffered population decline in recent decades. On the other hand, Indigenous peoples of the Philippines respect them, believing they are pets of spirits dwelling in belete trees (giant fig trees). If someone harms a Tarsier they must apologise to the forest spirits, or it is believed they will suffer illness or hardship. Sources: „Tarsier - the littlest alien‟ Off The Fence /1093720/ Primate Factsheets. „Philippine Tarsier‟ 23 Aug 2009. Gron KJ. 2010 December 1. Primate Factsheets: Tarsier (Tarsius) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology . <http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/tarsier>. Accessed 2012 November 23.
