lingas and gibbons

It’s been good to be back in Cambodia again. I haven’t honestly been really good about my time management here, instead preferring to relax hang with some friends, have good meals update my blog, etc. Later this week I’ll be doing some environmental ed with the Gecko kids so I’ve done a touch of planning for that. When I first got here I made a list of the things I wanted to do in Siem Reap and I’ve actually managed to do all but one, so that’s good.

At the top of my list was a visit to the ACCB Wildlife Center, which happens to be next door to Kbal Spean, an ancient Khmer site on a river.

While waiting for the wildlife center tour, we took a walk up the mountain to see Kbal Spean. There are thousand year old carvings in the river of Hindu gods and symbols, and a section called “River of a Thousand Lingas” which has thousands of linga carvings, small stubby cylindrical nubs in the river bed.

Carving of Hindu god Shiva and his good wife who rubs his legs....

Me and my friend Minear . Some of the carvings have been looted but most are still intact.

A joint effort between an NGO and the Environment and Forestry Department, the Wildlife Center rescues and rehabilitates wildlife found at market or in private homes. They have a breeding center (which visitors aren’t allowed into), and display animals for public viewing with a guide. The center also does a lot of work with locals, running programs to educate them about their local wildlife in an attempt to halt poaching of what are now endangered species. For instance, people think that eating pangolin (looks like a scaly armadillo) will cure many diseases, and they’ve hunted the pangolin to endangerment. People also hunt the animals to sell at market, with gibbons, pangolins, turtles, and other species fetching a couple hundred dollars, enough for a family of four to live on for months. So the center runs alternative livelihood programs, where they’ve taught people to farm beehives for honey harvest, and then set up agreements with hotels and restaurants in Siem Reap to buy the honey.

Some of the animals in the visitor center... pileated gibbons, a couple from private homes and some from the market. Different species than the gibbon experience gibbons.

This guy had fallen from a tree as a youngster and broke his leg. Some villagers found him and took him in. The center staff learned of him, confiscated him, and found that his leg wasn't healing properly and it had to be amputated:( He gets around just fine though

It seems like a great center and I was really impressed with their programs and their staff, who spoke some of the best English I’ve ever heard in Cambodia and really seemed invested in the project. Having nothing to compare to and not being too educated on the subject, I can’t speak for the state of thei enclosures. They seemed adequate to me, considering, and I know they have plans to enlarge everything in the next few years. I can say however, that they put some effort into enrichment, and that as we were touring the facility, the gibbons were singing; it’s my understanding that disturbed gibbons don’t sing, so I figured that must be a good thing. Anyway, again, I was impressed with the place and it was a very enjoyable visit.

Komodo Dragon

Slow lorisOpen-billed storkAdutant

Silver langur

On the way back we had to stop at Angkor Wat because the afternoon sky was this gorgeous blue and there were clouds and I wanted to get some pics. SO even though we were sweaty and tired,we made the mini-pilgrimage to the temple, and were well rewarded with some gorgeous photos.