We all know how a choice leads to another consequence, and we consider a lot in our head before we make that decision, don’t we? Usually, people tend to ask me, “what do you plan to do after getting this degree?”, or “if you continue with this field, will there be a good future?” As much as they sounded sceptical, my sense came along by combining both “what” and “if”. What if there’s no one continue to protect wildlife? What if people lose their care about the environment eventually? I will tell myself if no one is conserving wildlife, I will.
Throughout these years in the wildlife conservation field, I received different perspectives from friends, families and people that I worked with. Most of them inspired me to move further in this path, but of course, some of them disagree with the work I am passionate about, too. Well, I was quite determined to do what I can in raising conservation awareness among my peers, but most of all, I wish that my actions can empower more people to contribute for our precious wildlife.
My LPP journey started in June 2020, the time when we were all under movement control order (MCO) due to the COVID-19 pandemics. Although I studied Conservation Biology, I did not have the chance to learn more about primates, until I came back to my hometown, Penang for my internship at The Habitat Foundation, Penang Hill. The first time when I spot the Dusky Langur up close, my heart stopped for a moment. It was eating leaves on the tree, but it was the pair of “glasses” around the eyes that got my attention. I got curious about this animal and explore the internet for more information, which then lead me to LPP. I have been following LPP’s work since then, and I will usually spare some free time to find the Langurs in Penang Hill during my internship. After the end of my internship, I came across LPP’s post for volunteers to contribute in virtual content creation. Having an interest in this field, it aspires me to approach Jo Leen to be part of the team.
When MCO was lifted, Jo Leen assigned me to work in the field. On my first day in the field, after months “Work from Home”, it was an exciting start in Cherok Tokun Nature Park, Bukit Mertajam together with Jo Leen and my field partner, Jieh Long. This place reminds me of my younger days of hiking. Never did I realize that the Dusky Langurs are one of the inhabitants of this pristine rainforest. I never know how do behavioural studies carry out in the field. Most of the field techniques I understood was behavioural studies on captivated wildlife. Being a beginner, I went through the experience in the field, from hiking to climbing trees to get a better view of the Dusky Langurs. Everything was new to me, which doubles the excitement!
It was a challenging first month as the Dusky Langurs have not been “followed” during MCO. They are very alert whenever they sense humans getting too close to them. The first thing that I learned from the field is habituation. It is a process of wildlife to get used to our presence during observation works. Duskies are required to wear a white colour shirt for easy recognization by the Dusky Langurs. We followed the Langurs from 7 am to 2 pm, recording their behaviour, such as feeding, playing, but most of the time they are resting.
I love their facial expression, one of the fun things that I enjoy in the field where we became “professional” dialogue writer. Whenever we see the langurs interacting, our mind naturally builds up dialogues based on their actions. For instance, when they are feeding on fruits, and their faces are covered with the fruit dirt, they never do care. I guess that’s the perks of being in the wild, you don’t have to fear or embarrassed to eat in public.
Little do I wish to admit, it wasn’t all fun in the field, there’s some not-so-fun part as well. The first time when I went to field in Tropical Spice Garden, I think Jieh Long and myself were like mosquito magnet, let us agree that this is called “coexistence”, right? Well, the itch feeling got away the time when the Teluk Bahang group was so near to us, and we get to name a newly born infant. We came out with the name “Ah Keong” (meaning Strong in Hokkien dialect), because the little fellow was born during MCO, signifying he will be a strong leader someday as he braved the pandemics together with us. We always came across hikers and visitors asking what are we doing in the forest early morning. Some of them were curious about our work, some are doubtful, yet some are open-minded whenever we explain to them the importance of wildlife studies and their roles in contributing to biodiversity conservation.
One thing for sure, we will try our best to follow the Dusky Langur group. I remember when Jo Leen thinks that both me and Jieh Long are capable to do our field without her guidance, she asked us, will you be afraid of getting lost in the jungle? Frankly speaking, despite that we know we can always refer to the GPS, I do feel afraid if we got lost in Tokun Hill because my sense of direction is not that well. She said: “Don’t worry, as long as you follow the Dusky Langurs you will definitely find your way back.” Well, it is true! But, of course, this doesn’t apply whenever you got lost in every forest. This is partly because the Dusky Langurs’ home range was around the area in Tokun hill.
The group we are following is known as the Gar-Star group. Somehow it feels like the forest in Cherok Tokun is the Dusky Langurs’ mansion. Picture this, in the beginning, it felt like we were just wandering around their lawn, and partly look for fruiting trees such as, starfruit, rambutan, Terap nasi, fruiting trees that they love to hang around. Sometimes, when they are shy or not in the mood of being “stalked”, they will wander off other areas, and we are unable to follow them the whole time.
A few weeks later, we got “invited” to their home, as if they weren’t affected by our presence eventually, and kind of comfortable doing their routine. To me, it felt like gaining a kind of trust or building an invisible bond with the Dusky Langurs, as we were coexisting peacefully. Me and Jieh Long were sharing our thoughts and life during field while the Dusky Langurs were just chilling on the tree, with 1-2 long-tailed macaques joining the family. As the langurs starting to get habituated again, we noticed that even the female Dusky Langur carrying its infant, who was once very protective and tend to be on higher trees, have started to build “trust” with us that we will not harm its child. From observing them afar to a distance where binoculars were not needed, I was really glad to have this experience.
Personally, I enjoy observing the infant Dusky Langurs, they are usually active at all times, and just like us when we were young, annoy the “Duskiness” out of mommy. Well, reading until this point, if you thought that my fieldwork is entirely about the Dusky Langurs, you are mistaken. I’ve gained interesting knowledge about sympatric species, such as the racket-tailed drongo, long-tailed macaques, etc and edible fruit plants that can be great survival food if I got lost in the wild.
The most unforgettable memory in the field was the time when we witnessed a “mourning behavior” by Dusky Langurs.
It happened when an infant Dusky Langur fell from the tree, wounded and eventually die. The moment when the infant fell, its mother (named Yiyi) immediately went to carry its infant. We didn’t realize any unusual reaction as we proceed with our fieldwork. However, it came clear when we noticed the infant was inactive, and Yiyi was holding it while moving together with its group. After a few hours, while the group was feeding, we saw Yiyi isolating itself from the group, with one hand holding its child. We stood there observing for a few hours, where it sat on a slanted bamboo shoot looking at its child almost every minute. Despite that the infant is already lifeless, Yiyi still grooms and checked on it. Two days later, we went back to the field, and Yiyi was still holding its infant and later that day, Yiyi left the infant on a tree branch and moved on with its group. At that moment, a wave of thoughts just rushed to my mind. If wildlife mourns for their child’s death due to a fall accident, imagine when their newborns were taken by poachers, imagine when their infant fell to the street while crossing electric cable and hit by a car. If losing our loved ones is heartbreaking for us, it is just the same feeling to wildlife as well. You can read more about this story at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=698884234278782
Being one of the selected candidates under the Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots Malaysia Award 2020, I chose to volunteer under the Malaysian Primatological Society and continue my work with Langur Project Penang. It was an honour to be part of this project and organization, and I wanted to make an impact for LPP. Hence, I proposed to develop a website for LPP to document the works done by Duskies and LPP’s achievement in the past few years. I am blessed that Jo Leen has faith in me because this was my pilot project to develop a professional website. It was a rare opportunity for me. I will always be grateful for that.
I was delighted when my family express their interests in this project when I brought them for an exclusive “environmental educational tour” in Cherok Tokun one morning. Their reactions when they spot the Langurs were priceless. This is the work I am proud of, and I will always be.
WE ARE ALL WORKING FOR A PURPOSE. FOR MONEY. FOR LIFE. FOR FAMILY. It could be many reasons other than those, but I am glad I have one more - FOR WILDLIFE.
Quoted from Dr Jane Goodall and will always be my inspiration, WE ARE THE REASONS FOR HOPE.