The Javan gibbon, Hylobates moloch, is an endangered ape species endemic to the island of Java, Indonesia. Java is home to more than 141 million people, whereas there are thought to be only a few thousand gibbons left. The contrast between the gibbons’ specialised ecological adaptations and human population density has framed Javan gibbon conservation as contingent upon protecting the last contiguous forest fragments from human encroachment or forest conversion. Multilateral agreements propose strategies that combine ex situ gibbon management with in situ gibbon protection to meet the perceived needs of gibbon conservation. In situ conservation is broadly associated with historical notions of wild animals, while ex situ conservation broadly connotes captivity and human dependency. This strategy combination is increasing in application, yet few studies qualitatively address the processes and outcomes. This thesis examines how distinctions between in situ and ex situ characteristics influence silvery gibbon conservation processes that integrate both approaches in West Java, Indonesia. I argue that the differentiation in semiotic qualifications of the gibbons affects the material conservation applications. Acknowledging the complexity of West Javan environmental history and socio-political contests over forests and resource access, I applied a political ecology approach to understanding the situated contexts in which silvery gibbon conservation is embedded. Political ecology as a discipline asserts an agenda of understanding how socio-political relationships shape environmental conditions and highlights how power imbalances allow for dominant discursive explanations to overshadow alternative narratives. A political ecology analysis of in situ and ex situ silvery gibbons asks how the two are treated differently, and with what range of outcomes. I applied case study methodology to my interviews, observations, and to document research in order to investigate how integrated in situ and ex situ strategies influence single species conservation processes in a place-based context. Silvery gibbons were selected for the case study as they are characterised as a flagship, charismatic megafauna species representing West Javan primate conservation. Furthermore, The Aspinall Foundation had just implemented a programme to release ex situ gibbons into in situ habitats. Silvery gibbons offered a timely opportunity to explore material and semiotic framings of in situ gibbons as distinguished from ex situ gibbons, in discourse, narratives, and practices, and to record and analyse their outcomes. What I found in the work on silvery gibbon conservation by The Aspinall Foundation, TAF, is that the in situ/ex situ approach corresponds with protected areas management that align with fortress conservation. There are many complex factors shaping conservation in West Java, and protected areas are increasingly isolated fragments of historical forest ecosystems. Yet the conceptual boundary-making required to differentiate between an in situ gibbon and an ex situ gibbon, and continual management required to uphold the distinction, is akin to the nature/culture binaries inherent within fortress conservation. My research shows that privileging in situ as the desired status for a gibbon reinforces notions of wilderness. The discourse of wild nature persists despite the growing recognition of the Anthropocene. Where the nature/culture dualism was challenged, questions of nonhuman agency arose, pointing to limitations of the in situ/ex situ approach and of political ecology approaches to understanding conservation interventions.

It is a great honor to be asked to introduce this exciting new volume, having been heavily involved in the first comprehensive synthesis in the early 1980s. Gibbons are the most enthralling of primates. On the one hand, they are the most appealing animals, with their upright posture and body shape, facial markings, dramatic arm-swinging locomotion and suspensory postures, and devastating duets; on the other hand, the small apes are the most diverse, hence biologically valuable and informative, of our closest relatives. It is hard for me to believe that it is 40 years to the month since I first set foot on the Malay Peninsula to start my doctoral study of the siamang. I am very proud to have followed in the footsteps of the great pioneer of primate field study, Clarence Ray Carpenter (CR or Ray, who I was fortunate to meet twice, in Pennsylvania and in Zurich), first in Central America (in 1967) and then in Southeast Asia. It is 75 years since he studied howler monkeys on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal Zone. It is 70 years since he studied the white-handed gibbon in Thailand.

This volume brings together current research and practice on gibbon conservation, ecology, taxonomy and phylogenetics.

Presents new research and analysis along with case studies to examine the interface between ape conservation and industrial agriculture. This title is available as Open Access.

Combining personal stories of motivation with new research this book offers a holistic picture of primate conservation in the Anthropocene.

Rehabilitation and translocation programmes are increasingly becoming an important component of conservation action plans for threatened species. Translocation can help address gibbon conservation issues (gibbons are recognized as one of the most threatened primate families globally) by allowing gibbons held in captivity to be rescued, rehabilitated and then returned to the wild. These guidelines for the translocation of gibbons have been developed in collaboration with stakeholders in hylobatid conservation. This process was initiated druing a workshop on gibbon rehabilitation, reintroduction and translocation, facilitated by the IUCN SSC PSG Section on Small Apes (SSA), and the result of this process is the current document, which is based on shared knowledge and experience to date. The guidelines are designed to be a practical and useful document available for all stakeholders, with the aim of equipping field projects and decision makers with the tools for scientifically sound practice in gibbon rehabilitation and translocation.