Yesterday, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s Chang[e] Caravan set off from Khao Yai to send a message to the world’s political leaders to act against the threat of disastrous climate change.

‘Chang’ means ‘Elephant’ in Thai, one of the most revered creatures in the country, but elephants can suffer greatly when removed from the wild. Five Asian Elephants in the Caravan were rescued and rehabilitated from Bangkok’s streets by the Thai Elephant Research and Conservation Fund.

Over the next two weeks, the elephants and activists will travel 250km south to the outskirts of the capital to raise awareness about the delicate interconnection between wildlife and climate.

Before setting off, mahout elders held a ceremony, praying to the spirits of ancestor mahouts for safety and luck on the journey. Thai Buddhist monks also blessed the caravan.

Along the way they will hold activities for students and communities on elephant and forest conservation, climate change impacts and renewable energies. Follow the caravan’s progress on Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s blog.

Thailand’s Department of Highways is considering ways to improve the road transportion link between Nakhon Ratchasima and Prachin Buri, by expanding the existing two lane, single carriageway that cuts through the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex.

Running down a clearing roughly between Khao Yai and Thap Lan National Parks, Highway 304 is a shortcut between the Northeast and East through protected areas that stretch to the Cambodian border.

The existing road presents a hazard for crossing wildlife and some conservationists are concerned the envisaged six-lane highway upgrade will further fragment this World Heritage listed corridor.

At a recent consultation meeting attended by FREELAND staff, the Department of Highways presented proposals to mitigate the impact of the upgrade and possibly even improve safety for wildlife.

Five options are being considered:

1. Mountainous Highway Tunnel
2. Elevated Highway
3. Cut and Cover Tunnel or Shallow Tunnel
4. Wildlife Overpass and Underpass Crossing
5. Wildlife Overpass Crossing at Specific Locations

The effectiveness of each option in facilitating safe passage for wildlife appears to vary, as does the impact on the immediate environment and project costs.

The Department of Highways is consulting broadly with the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, NGOs, local community groups and university research departments. A final project proposal is expected to be presented to UNESCO this year.

The opening of this confronting public service announcement (PSA) about wildlife trafficking from FREELAND was filmed at Khao Yai National Park’s stunning Haew Suwat Waterfall (location of a breathtaking scene in Danny Boyle’s The Beach).

The PSA’s star is a Slow Loris, an animal commonly poached from protected areas to be sold into the illicit pet trade. Listed as vulnerable to endangered on the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species, these cute little creatures are in more demand than Leonardo DiCaprio, but have a tough time surviving outside their natural habitat.

Produced by AsiaWorks Television Bangkok and featuring music specially composed by Damien Rice, this FREELAND PSA is designed to alert everyone to the fact that:

“Thousands of wild animals are trafficked through airports every day.”

These animals belong in the wild. Please share this message with your friends.

UPDATE: View ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage, who said working with kids and animals wasn’t fun?

This year, FREELAND conservation staff have witnessed something new, a flying bear over Khao Yai National Park!

The Bear had earlier attacked one of the park buildings in search of food. For the safety of visitors, rangers decided to sedate the animal and remove it to an isolated location.

Khao Yai’s helicopter was employed to airlift the heavy sleeping beast, which snoozed happily through the entire event.

Australian volunteer Laura Mitchell has been helping the Surviving Together team monitor wildlife in protected areas.

Working closely with field staff and local rangers, our Aussie volunteer recorded signs of numerous indigenous wildlife by examining tracks and setting camera traps deep inside the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, in protected areas such as Thap Lan National Park.

According to Laura, wildlife conservation in Thailand is an interesting and challenging change from her last job – working with koalas on Australia’s Kangaroo Island, where poaching is non-existent.

When not trapping unsuspecting wildlife on film, Laura found time to visit FREELAND’s community outreach projects in the villages around Khao Yai to see how small-scale agriculture can provide sustainable incomes for former poachers.

Other exciting highlights included the day of the weird white moths, bogged jeeps, ant-riddled camera traps, and encounters that can only be related over a cold Aussie beer.

Laura’s volunteer work for wildlife conservation was made possible by the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program, an Australian Government initiative assigning young people to support sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.

FREELAND’s staff wish Laura all the best in her future travels and hope she’ll come back to visit soon.

The Zoological Park Organisation, Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Forestry and IUCN have announced a new survey of the smaller species of wild cats will be carried out across four major forests in Thailand, including Khao Yai.

Thailand’s forests are home to nine species of wild cats, including the Asian golden cat, the fishing cat, the flat-headed cat, the jungle cat, the marbled cat, the leopard cat, the clouded leopard, the leopard, and the tiger. In the past, less attention has been given to the study and conservation of the smaller members of this family.

Poaching of wild cats has also been described as “rampant” in Thailand and neighboring countries, and conservationists are particularly worried about the number of fishing cats remaining in the wild.

The new initiative was announced during a mini-summit of the world’s leading wild cat experts held in Bangkok late last month, and attended by FREELAND staff.

Other forests to be included in the study are Huai Kha Khaeng, Khao Ang Rue Nai and Phu Khiew.

Great Hornbills are a common sight in Khao Yai, thanks to the protection afforded by the national park. Lucky visitors may even catch a glimpse of the birds nesting high in the trees.

Female hornbills will usually nest in tree hollows like this one, blocking up the entrance with bark, dirt and droppings, leaving only a small opening for her mate to deliver food.

Normally, she will incubate her eggs for around 40 days and stay with her chicks until they are semi-developed. The total rearing cycle usually takes 120 days.

Biologists are concerned that climate change may be affecting the breeding cycles of Khao Yai’s Great Hornbills. Their research suggests the total duration of chick rearing has recently increased by 20 days, to a total of 140 days.

Increasing temperatures aren’t the only threat to Khao Yai’s Great Hornbills. Demand from the exotic pet trade makes hornbills a target of poachers and wildlife traffickers. Their unique beaks are also highly sought after.

Great Hornbill Skull and Beak

If a male is captured or killed during the nesting period, the female won’t abandon her young, even if it means starving to death.

Protecting hornbill families from poachers and ensuring intact and healthy forest for them to forage and nest in is crucial to the survival of this colourful species.

According to the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species, the Great Hornbill is “declining moderately rapidly throughout its range” and is now “generally scarce” in Thailand.

It takes a keen eye to spot some of Khao Yai’s more reclusive animals, many only come out to hunt and forage at night. Setting camera traps and identifying tracks is the only way to ever know they were there.

Kanda Damrongchainarong uses these techniques to monitor the health of animal populations in Khao Yai. FREELAND’s Conservation Project Field Coordinator, Kanda has been monitoring wildlife in the park for 4 years and speaks passionately about the animals she works to protect.

This Sun Bear, identified by the pale patch of fur on its chest, was captured on film in the early morning using a camera trap. Photographers would be unlikely to get this close to any of Khao Yai’s wild animals.

Usually set along identified animal thoroughfares in the forest; camera traps use an infra-red sensor to detect movement, triggering a flash camera. Despite being enclosed inside a protective case, they can be damaged by bad weather, inquisitive ants and larger animals, such as bears and elephants.

Kanda says that cameras recovered intact often tell interesting stories over several nights in the forest, recording the nocturnal movements of animals and poachers alike.

Kanda freezes on the trail a few steps ahead, making a hand motion to stay quiet. She’s seen something on the opposite river bank that no one else noticed.

Her voice is a whisper as she points across the water. Suddenly, we notice movement; a crocodile shifts its head to keep an eye on us, its open mouth sending a warning.

Nature watchers Steve and Tanja uploaded this video footage of the freshwater crocodile that has made its home in this Khao Yai stream, in close proximity to the walking track.

FREELAND’s Carnivore Conservation Project Field Coordinator, Kanda Damrongchainarong, explains that there is no active breeding population of crocodiles native to Khao Yai, so individuals like this one must have made their way into the park from other areas.

Still, the appearance of this croc is a good sign for Khao Yai’s river systems. Like tigers, these large carnivores are positive indicators of a healthy ecosystem supporting enough prey for them to hunt.

If you stay at Khao Yai National Park overnight, you’ll know that tents and bungalows come with a complementary alarm clock – screeching Gibbons!

What may be an incomprehensible racket of howling and hooting to sleepy park visitors is actually one of the most complicated animal communications in nature.

Researchers have only recently become aware of how Gibbon calls can function as detailed warnings of danger, not just romantic serenades.

Scientists from as far away as Scotland and Germany have come to Khao Yai to study the musical calls of these tree dwelling apes, discovering that Gibbons switch the order of sounds to alter the meaning of their songs.

Gibbon calls echo through the Khao Yai forest

Gibbon songs vary so dramatically, their range was compared to that between ‘gangsta rap’ and ’sappy pop’ music by MSNBC journalist Jasmin Aline Persch in her article Low-profile singers of the animal world.

Khao Yai is home to two species of gibbon, the White-handed or Lar gibbon and the rarer Pileated Gibbon. In a small area these two species even hybridize naturally, one of only three such gibbon hybridization zones in the world.