accumulate knowledge in two follow-up study sites to conserve and restore two endangered gibbon species; build up a network of conservation volunteers at the community level to conserve and restore two endangered gibbons; develop a knowledge management system to support the conservation and restoration of endangered gibbons; and offer lessons learned to conserve and restore endangered and threatened biodiversity. The research is based from the accumulated studies conducted on the pileated gibbon (Hylobates pileatus) in Khao Soi Dao (KSD) Wildlife Sanctuary, eastern Thailand since 1980 and the White-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar carpenteri) in Lum Nam Pai Wildlife Sanctuary, northern Thailand since 1997. H. pileatus is sexual dichromatic. Hylobates lar carpenteri is the northernmost subspecies of H. lar. Both male and female species can be either black or buff 64 THE ASIA REGIONAL FORUM ON BIODIVERSITY or light-colored. It is a more hairy sub-species, possibly due to colder climate in the past in northern Thailand. Both species of gibbon are endangered. The study on Pileated gibbon followed the international trend in the 1980s when studies were conducted to document the ecology and behavior of the species compared to other gibbon species. The study on H. lar. carpenteri is a product of an area-based study approach in Mae Hong Son Province in 1997. Basic knowledge about gibbon study (can be called gibbonology) accumulated since 1938 by C.R. Carpenter have given advantage for more action research. Carpenter collected 146 specimens of gibbon and deposited them at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). This is considered a milestone in physical anthropology. Two scientists should be mentioned in relation to this milestone. Harold Coolidge organized the expedition. He is the founder of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and regarded as the “Father of Wildlife Conservation.” The other is Sherwood Washburn who joined the expedition as a graduate student. When he became a professor, he encouraged more study on primate behavior in natural habitats. He is an important person in “physical or biological anthropology and primatology”. The trend involving this type of study influenced the study of pileated gibbon in the 1980s. Traditionally, it is necessary to know basic information about populations, ecology and behavior when conducting biodiversity conservation initiatives. This is the main idea of the study of pileated gibbon conducted in the 1980s. The population survey in the intensive study site in 1978 estimated the group density of five groups per square kilometer. Twenty-eight years later in 2006, the density was estimated at only 0.87 groups per square kilometer. The study site, which is in the middle of the sanctuary, was accessible only by walking. It can take about half a day to reach the site. Clearly, there are limitations in the traditional way of biodiversity conservation. To address the limitations, Mahidol University embarked on new action research by setting up a conservation network of non-timber forest Figure 2. A Ph.D. student from Mahidol University is working on the conservation of white-handed gibbon in Mae Hong Son Province, Northern Thailand.
In Celebration of His Majesty the King of Thailand’s 84th Birthday Anniversary
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