Refuse to have your picture taken with a baby gibbon in your arms

During your holiday in Thailand, you may be approached by locals who will offer to take a souvenir photo with a small gibbon in your arms.

Although forbidden by law, this trade continues to exist in tourist areas because it is very lucrative.

At 200 or 300 baht per photo, it is estimated that a baby gibbon This is more or less the average monthly salary in Thailand. Don't be fooled by their adorable appearance and refuse to participate in this unworthy trade.

Endangered mainly due to deforestation, all the gibbon species that inhabit the forests of Southeast Asia are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which was ratified by Thailand in 1992. Since then, the trade, hunting and exploitation of gibbons have been strictly prohibited by law.

Remember that the gibbons you see on the beaches are always small children. Gibbons are wild animals and are known to be very dangerous. When they reach puberty, at around six or seven years of age, they grow impressive canines and adopt aggressive behaviour.

Territorial, monogamous, outstanding acrobats and exceptional singers, the gibbons are magnificent animals. They are said to be the smallest of the great apes. They live in the wild in a family group of three or four individuals: the mother - who is the dominant member of the group - and the father, who pledge their loyalty to each other until death, a young pre-pubescent child and often a newborn baby clinging to the mother's belly.

Behind an innocent photo there is a massacre!

The only way to catch a harvestable gibbon is to kill the mother while the baby is still living on her belly. It is estimated that in this hunt, where the mother falls from her tree, the baby dies in at least three out of four cases and the rest of the group is condemned to certain death.

Remember that a gibbon doesn't belong on a beach and certainly not in a bar. Gibbons live in trees. Each group occupies an area of virgin forest ranging from 25 to 40 hectares, which the adults protect by violent bite attacks.

They play an essential role in the diversity, health and regeneration of the forest through their role as gardeners, feeding on the fruits and distributing the seeds throughout their territory. The Thai forest cannot live without gibbons.

Wherever the gibbons have disappeared, the forest - and all the other species that live within it - is condemned to an inexorable death.

Don't forget that behind every gibbon you come across on your holiday in Thailand is the slaughter of at least three or four families of gibbons wild - that is, a dozen individuals - and the slow and inexorable destruction of 75 to 120 hectares of virgin forest.

Instead of giving money for these stupid and illegal photos, ask the right question to those who exploit them: "He's a cute baby, but where's his mum?.

Do not support this vile trade. Don't let yourself be photographed with a baby gibbon in your arms.

Photos: GRP