Traumatized, terrified and alone in the world, three-month-old Sombad the gibbon needs a sanctuary. |
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Dear friends,
Tiny Sombad, a white-cheeked gibbon, was just a few weeks old when he was ripped from his family in the Cambodian wild and caught in the terrifying world of illegal wildlife smuggling in Southeast Asia. Just a baby, he lost everything – the safety of his family; his natural habitat; his loving and nurturing mother. |
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 | Credit: LCTW |
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Every year, thousands of critically endangered gibbons like Sombad are stolen from the wild to be sold as pets or eaten. Poachers will shoot a mother holding a baby, and once the mother is dead, they will steal the baby.
Only around one in 10 baby gibbons poached this way will survive.
Many die as they fall from the trees, or as a result of incidental bullet wounds or abuse after being caught. For every one baby gibbon you see paraded online, there is a bloody trail of up to 10 dead mothers and nine dead babies. |
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In June, 5,000 trafficked animals burned to death at a notorious open-air “pet” market in Thailand. |
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 | Credit: LCTW |
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5,000 animals just like Sombad. |
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Helpless infants like Sombad, considered “cute” and trainable, are smuggled across Asia’s borders and sold at illegal markets to be pets, exploited on the streets for money, or forced to perform on social media for “likes.” Sombad was being sold on the internet.
Sombad is one of the few trafficked animals whose story has a “happy” ending – although, orphaned and living in a sanctuary until he is old enough to fend for himself is hardly a “happy” outcome.
Our partner, Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife (LCTW) in Vientiane, Laos, is the only hope for countless endangered and critically endangered wild animals trafficked through Southeast Asia and into Laos for unfounded “traditional Chinese medicine” (TCM), to be cooked – sometimes still alive – or to become “pets.”
Heartbreakingly, gibbons will be wiped out entirely if this onslaught doesn’t stop. Some species are estimated to have only 30 individuals left in the wild. This is why LCTW, alongside local authorities, works tirelessly to intercept and penalize poachers, and save near-extinct wild animals. |
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 | | Credit: LCTW |
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Baby Sombad, who was found tied up with chains, is deeply traumatized and terrified after his ordeal. |
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After a tip-off from social media, where Sombad was being sold online in private groups, LCTW saved him from his captors. He was wrapped in chains, weak and trembling.
LCTW has begun carefully introducing him to a surrogate mother at their sanctuary. Gibbons have strong family bonds and males and females remain monogamous throughout their lives. Offspring stay with their parents to learn how to forage, vocalize, sing, and survive in the wild. |
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 | Credit: LCTW |
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Had Sombad not been rescued by our partner, his life would have been tragically different. Too often, trafficked monkeys are illegally confined in tiny cages, where they live their entire lives.
Worse are the animals who are chopped up and used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Monkeys, particularly gibbons and macaques, have long been “prescribed” in TCM, with ancient texts calling for crushed monkey skull and pickled monkey meat to treat malaria, alongside even more horrific uses.
Sombad was just days or perhaps hours from this fate. |
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 | Credit: LCTW |
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With your help today, we can provide Sombad with the sanctuary he deserves – a jungle-like enclosure where he can roam freely, bask in sunlight, and rediscover the joys of a natural habitat.
Please, donate for Sombad right away. |
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LCTW does not have sufficient appropriate space for the gibbon right now, and urgently needs our help to construct the ideal enclosure for this rescued animal.
Gibbons are territorial so they are often kept alone, but within view of other gibbons, during the early phases of their rehabilitation. They may later be introduced to a potential mate. |
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 | Credit: LCTW |
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Right now, Sombad is living in the sanctuary’s quarantine area as there is no enclosure for him.
If we can raise $15,000 (approximately £11,750), we can help LCTW to construct a large, semi-wild enclosure so that Sombad can finally live the life he deserves.
The enclosure will also go on to provide a home for more animals rescued from the brutal illegal wildlife trade in the future. |
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Infant Sombad has his whole life ahead of him, and after the trauma he experienced, we want to give him the best.
Please, help us give Sombad the second chance he dearly deserves. |
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We must do our best to give this brave survivor the safe, spacious enclosure he deserves after his terrible ordeal – so please, donate right away, and show your kindness to this deeply traumatized animal. |
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Saving animals and the planet,
 General Manager
Animal Survival International |
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P.S. Please help us give Sombad the gift of a second chance. For this infant gibbon, torn from his mother, it will be a stepping stone towards freedom. Donate today, and give Sombad the safe haven he deserves. |
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