During 2019 our team in Java have continued the successful programme of rehabilitation and subsequent release of young primates caught up in the illegal pet trade. Over the past decade we have confiscated more than 200 langurs and gibbons and successfully reintroduced in excess of 140, including over 30 from our Parks in the UK. This year we have been preparing more groups of langurs and gibbons born at the Parks to make the journey back to their native homeland. Six Javan langurs and five Javan gibbons will shortly leave the UK and join their wild-born counterparts at our Javan Primate Rescue Centre in West Java.
After a period of assessment the langurs will be transferred to our Java Langur Rehabilitation Centre in East Java where they will undergo the final phase prior to release, and the gibbons will remain in West Java until ready for release at protected sites nearby. These captive-bred primates, like those that have already made the journey, will help to supplement the wild population.