Have you guys ever pondered on... 

..how special Malaysian primates, the nature and its bounty?

As we speak, we have 25 primate species, and some are endemic too! Truly, we are blessed with the richness of species- hence we also need to step up our game in protecting them!

Fun Facts!
Bornean Orang Utan (Pongo pygmaeus), a native species in the island of Borneo.It belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia. Like the other great apes, Orang Utans are highly intelligent, displaying distinct cultural patterns in the wild. Orangutans share approximately 97% of their DNA with humans.

So.. what now?

We are two students from School of Biological Sciences, USM. We found the main idea of this fundraising campaign is to create and publish a children's storybook on Malaysian primates. The story book is going to be an interesting medium for children to learn about Malaysian primates and its wonders! Profit from the sales of this book will be channeled towards primate research, education and conservation purposes. 

Our Project: 

My partner and I have teamed up with Malaysian Primatological Society (MPS) to do a fundraising campaign. MPS is an established organisation under Registry of Society (ROS), and the first NGO in Malaysia to promote the conservation effort on Malaysian Primates. The aim of MPS is to act as a coordinator and facilitator of primate-related studies in Malaysia. Besides research, MPS wants to work towards conservation of endangered local primate species and create broad public awareness on relevant topics related to Malaysian primates.

 
For this fundraising, we target to achieve RM8000.00 for artwork and printing purposes, Donors will receive a special mention by MPS in our social media platforms. For donation of MYR 50 & above, you will receive a copy of the book! Do acknowledge us if you already made a transaction via Whatsapp or email to [email protected].

The author and content will come fresh from the field as we worked with MPS in this fundraising. We expect to publish this book in September- October of 2020. 

Be a Primate Hero and Donate to Make a Difference! ✨✨✨

The profit from the story and actovity book will be chanelled to our conservation fund. As we speak, MPS focus on conservation and outreach effort of Malaysian primates. We have five projects going on such as Langur Project Penang, Night Spotting Project, Primate Watch Malaysia, Gibbons of Peninsular Malaysia Project and Macaca Nemestrina Project. The profit from the selling of the book will cover our outreach platforms (webinars, website, social media) and our research expenses for the project- as we plan to resume our efforts post- MCO! 

Who are we?

My name is Athirah, and my partner working on this fundraising is Nisha. We love wildlife conservation, primates, forest and the environment and totally proud of them! We are undergraduate students based in Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang). As  zoology students, we love nature and were exposed to many conservation projects and work. We can’t help but to find conservation work is very interesting and beneficial both for wildlife and humans. We were involved in volunteering work with Malaysian Primatological Society (MPS) before and also joined a talk and program about conservation organized by MPS.

We are two Final year students from School of Biological Sciences, USM, As zoology students, working in the field is part and parcel of our lives. It 'taught us on how to appreciate the wildlife as treasures that built up the world. '

 

And above photo showing one of the biggest insectivorous bat caught (Hipposideros armiger) and released during a field trip,.We found merriment working in challenges, as we love to learn new things. We learned approaches on how to manage and conserve the animals - and we vowed to ourselves to work our best to protect them. Pictured here below is us harnessing the bat trap after a day hike in dense tropical forest reserve of Northern Peninsular Malaysia. It was challenging, but definitely the learning experience is priceless! 

 

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Previously..

Let us begin with Athirah's side of story.. 

I undergone internship in Zoo Taiping, Perak Malaysia for three months. It  was a very mind blowing and thoughts- provoking experience! I got to be close with many wild animals and learn so much about them

My past experience working with the zoo enabledme to feel the up close and personal experience feeding and managing the wildlife. It's truly amazing to feed Jaya the elephant, and Athirah's learning a lot during cleaning the enclosure of giraffe too.Tiring but it was fulffilling! But on top of that, the most unforgettable experience is providing the enrichment for the orang utan, our one and only great ape in Malaysia. 

During the enrichment provision work, I saw how essential using tools to stimulate Orang utan;s activity at the zoo. These orangutans were very smart! We work hand in hand to provide the best enrichment we could, and we hope the orangutans enjoyed them too! We also managed to work with the zookeepers, and learned many techniques which are very useful in handlife wildlife.

 

 

 

Currently i am working with bat (Rhinolophus trifoliatus) for my final year project. Beside primates, i find bat very interesting to work with and to learn new things. I fall in love with bats during one of my fieldtrip where we get to assemble traps, looking for bat captured, identifying the species and releasing them back. Bats are just as important component to a forest ecosystem as primate- hence, really, we should do our best to protect these wildlife! 

As for Nisha.. 

It;s all started  since 2017, my first year of undergraduate. From only an underling of a society’s event, I further my baby steps. I started to join Latihan Aktivis Alam Sekitar (LASAK) organized by KUASA and this program gives a little insight and real experience on the issues of surroundings and taught us on what to do when facing these kind of problems in the future. 

Minoring in Archaeology. I love to involve in conservation work as I believe I can learn a lot about things and enhance my soft skill. I acknowledged Malaysian Primatological Society (MPS) during my first year of degree. The beautiful research about Malaysian primates has captivated my interest. I actively joined lots of programs involving conservation.

One of the conservation experiences that I won’t forget is a program with Orang Asli in Pos Piah. This 3 days 2 nights’ program was organized by KUASA and I learnt a lot about nature as well as Orang Asli Temiar’s culture. They depend on forest as it is not only home for them but, the forest itself is a place for them to find food and medicine.

After a while, I became volunteer during semester break for a few exhibitions related to conservation such as World Ocean Day that has been organized by Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) and Tiny Forest Project organized by WWF in 2018. I love to involve in these kind of activity because I can improve my communication skill and gain lots of knowledge.

During my third year of undergraduate, I officially became a volunteer for Malaysian Primatological Society (MPS). I did a lot of outreach program involving university’s students and kindergarten’s kids. I learnt that these two groups need two different approach as I need to deliver the information regarding primates in Malaysia. However, I enjoyed so much doing this work.

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Luckily now we get to work with Malaysian Primatological Society in helping primates by creating this fundraising campaign. Isee this as an opportunity to improve myself in  the conservation field  because i get to interact with many people and promote primate conservation.

 

 

We are bringing primates, experience and challenges in the form of story telling in these books. We expect that a book concerning with primates, and another book with revolved around the magnificent of the orangutan will be a great tool for young kids these days for environment conservation. These books will be published in both Malay and English language. It will also experience of the researchers in the field, so who knows? We will be nurturing some young environmentalist too! 

 We understood that during this pandemic period and Movement Control Order (MCO), some joy of primates and its wonders would be great to be highlighted, especially to the young kids. We also hope that from this book, these materials could be used to educate about the importance of forest and habitat conservation!

We need RM 8000.00 ( or USD 1900.00) to make this happen. Help us, please?

So come on, let's do this together jom? Be part of this fundraiser and contribute for the betterment of these critically endangered species.