Primatologist and 2018 Generation T Honouree Andie Ang shares her passion to protect and foster greater understanding of local endangered primates

It may sound ironic, but Andie Ang’s interest in primates was piqued after she received a juvenile wild vervet monkey as a gift. It was illegally taken from Zambia by sailor friends of her relatives, who gifted it to her. 

The 2018 Generation T honouree reminisces, “I was only 10 years old and did not fully grasp the difference between a wild animal and a domestic pet. So I raised the monkey like I would a pet dog until I learned, through watching him every day, that he was miserable chained up at home.” 

The monkey was eventually repatriated back to Africa but the close-up experience sparked a passion in Andie to study primates, beginning with a stint at the Singapore Zoo, and later at Khao Yai National Park in Thailand observing white-handed gibbons. She enjoyed it so much that she continued her research in the different forests of Asia, and eventually pursued a doctorate project on leaf-eating monkeys in Vietnam.

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Above Andie Ang with Jane Goodall

Today, Andie chairs the Raffles’ Banded Langur Working Group, which includes representatives from the Wildlife Reserves Singapore, National Parks Board, and Jane Goodall Institute Singapore (JGIS). The project aims to conserve the Raffles’ banded langurs, which are black and white monkeys native to Singapore. There are currently less than 60 langurs left in Singapore, so the group hopes to protect and restore their habitats; gather data on them through long‑term research and monitoring; and secure the necessary resources and commitment for its conservation in Singapore and Malaysia. The initiative is funded by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund and has the long-term goal of continuing its conservation work for the next 10 to 15 years.

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Above There are currently less than 60 Raffles’ banded langurs left in Singapore

As vice-president of JGIS—the Singapore chapter of the global non-profit organisation started by world-renowned primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall to inspire individual action in improving the understanding, welfare and conservation of primates—Andie also works with the team to come up with public educational programmes. These include monthly Monkey Walks at Lower Peirce and MacRitchie reservoir parks, as well as Bukit Timah Nature Reserve; a Monkey Guard programme to help residents near macaque hotspots to co-exist with monkeys; and getting youths to be macaque awareness ambassadors under the Roots & Shoots programme. 

JGIS president Tay Kae Fong says, “Like Dr Goodall, we believe there’s reason for hope if we all act now. In Singapore, we take a species-specific approach to primate conservation. For the langurs, we focus on surveys of their small population and work with other stakeholders to increase their numbers.”

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One with Nature 

Andie believes that protecting and living in harmony with our local wild animals, which also include the common long-tailed macaques in Singapore parks, is the responsible thing for the human population to do. During Goodall’s visit to Singapore in August 2017, JGIS formed a Macaque Working Group with other non-profit and government organisations to come up with conflict prevention and standardised protocols to minimise incidents between macaques and humans. Tay says, “For the long‑tailed macaques, it’s about reducing human-macaque conflicts.”

Andie explains, “These native animals share our urban and forested environments and I believe that they shouldn’t be treated as if they don’t belong here. Our society is mature enough and ready to find solutions to minimise human-wildlife conflicts. Singapore still has plenty of wildlife and natural areas, and it is not too late to find ways to develop sustainably and coexist with our wild neighbours.”

Being in the concrete jungle for too long will distance us from nature, to the extent that we’d have no reservations removing it. An important first step is to further integrate nature into our educational curriculum and our daily lives.

- Andie Ang -

Her lifelong goal is to watch primates and share the knowledge gleaned from her trips through her website. Here, she shares information on the primates and the specific localities, including well‑protected areas, where to meet them, as well as the researchers and conservationists that the public can contact. 

Recalling Goodall’s handwritten postcard from their 2015 meeting where the conservationist had commended her doctorate research on Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys found on the difficult terrain of Khau Ca in Vietnam, Andie says, “Her words of encouragement continue to motivate me today. I’ve always been inspired by her simple approach towards conservation, which is honouring the connectedness between people, animals and their environment. 

“Being in the concrete jungle for too long will distance us from nature, to the extent that we’d have no reservations removing it. An important first step is to further integrate nature into our educational curriculum and our daily lives.”

Credits

Photography  

Andie Ang and Jenson Lee

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