Why ConSewvation
After saving and saving for my second trip Asia, I was amazed to receive a "behind the screens" access day to Cambodia's Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center. This was sure to be the highlight of my trip but little did I know just how much it would change everything.
The Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center works hard to protect it's native animals for the cruelty that can be placed upon them. On the car journey to the center we were handed a book full of heart wrenching stories of the animals we were to meet later in the day. First up we had Lucky, one of the world's most charming and trusting elephants. Being able to get up close and person with her, even feed her directly into her mouth made me wonder why anyone would want to hurt such gentle giants.
Tigers have always been my favourite, so being able to get behind the enclosure doors with them was amazing. Along with seeing Otter's fish for their lunch, a leopard play like she was a kitten and hand feeding monkeys, the day was amazing.
However there was one animal that stole my heart. Storm was a three month old Gibbon who had been taken from her family with the plan of being kept as a pet. She had been hand raised from so young that she has picked up human habits that would she her get into fights in the wild, like showing joy by smiling, and like humans, showing her teeth, this is a sign of aggression to wild Gibbons, meaning she could be putting her own life at risk from being friendly. To know this beautiful gibbon would never swing free again broke my heart.
Storm was used to being cuddled, but when I met her whilst she was in quarantine, to make sure she hadn't picked up any diseases from her owners. She craved the human touch, as that was all she knew. It broke me to know that she didn't understand why being put into a cage with other monkey species would in the long run be best for her. In a few years time she would be paired with a male gibbon who was too tame for the wild to and her children, with any luck, could then be released into the wild.
Her sad sound for attention and out stretched arms melted my emotions. Standing there, stroking her arm and holding her hands through the bar made me realise just how much this is what I want to do. I would love to educate those, who clearly loved her to want her as a pet, that love is best kept at a distance.
I want to understand these animals and how the behave. I want to be leading the way in Zoology to make the standards of zoo's more rewarding for both the animals and the visitors. I don't believe that cages will be empty in my life time, however seeing animals like this makes much more of an impact, which will hopefully inspire more people to get active in saving the wildlife in which these animals deserve.
