Articles in ‘Indonesia nature’
The calling of the gibbons
September 18th, 2009
Dawn is often not fully visible in the jungle. The Iban, a people from Papua New Guinea, call this time of the day, Empliau bebungi - the Calling of the Gibbon.
Collected from Into the Heart of Borneo by Redmond O’Hanlon, 1987.
Note: I’m not sure which gibbon this refers to but I supect it may be the Grey Gibbon:
Müller’s Bornean Gibbon is endemic to the island of Borneo. It inhabits the northern and eastern part of the island. In the southwest of the island the Agile Gibbon lives, and surprisingly their territories hardly overlap. They are diurnal rain forest dwellers that are characterized by the long arms that all gibbons have, with which they brachiate through the trees. The Grey Gibbon lives together in monogamous pairs, and defend their family territory against intruders with long, loud singing, which rings out above all else early in the morning. Wikipedia
With breathtaking views of the Himalayas, you can soar alongside Egyptian Vultures and Black Kites who will approach to take food out of your hand. They are specially trained rescue birds who can’t be returned to the wild. Among them is Kevin the young Egyptian Vulture, famous for his scrapes with Steppe Eagles. The ultimate aim of the venture is to draw attention to the serious decline of Asian vultures, being poisoned to extinction by vet-prescribed drug Diclofenac. Visit 
This year breeding conditions have been exceptionally good for budgerigars in Queensland, Australia. Heavy rain and river flooding revived the land, providing plenty of grass seeds for the birds to feast on. When all the available trees with the best nesting sites had been taken, budgerigars were laying their eggs on the ground. And now local people are marvelling at the unprecedented size of the flocks, turning the sky green. 
Customs officials first suspected the 22-year old Norwegian, who’d just stepped off a ferry from Denmark, when they spotted a tarantula scuttling inside his bag. They then noticed “his whole body was in constant motion”. The wriggling movement was due to the 14 baby royal pythons tucked away in socks strapped to the man’s torso. That wasn’t all: when the officials made him drop his trousers they found 10 cans taped to his legs, each containing an albino leopard gecko. As Norway bans the import of reptiles, including unendangered species like these, he has been fined 12,500 Norwegian crowns (£1,800). 
