Tarik Kabir

Back to the Conference Report on International Primatological Society - Malaysian Primatological Society (IPS - MPS) Joint Meeting 2023 Primates and People: A New Horizon

By Tarik Kabir

PhD Candidate

Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia and Principal Investigator, Western Hoolock Gibbon Conservation Project

The Joint Meeting of the International Primatological Society (IPS) and the Malaysian Primatological Society (MPS), co-organized by Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), will be held from 19th to 25th August, 2023 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The renowned international event that was first held in Germany in 1966 will soon land for the first time in Borneo. The 29th edition of the biennial global congress will happen over a span of 7 days at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) and will include various keynote sessions, plenary sessions, discussions and workshops, exhibits, technical site visits around Sarawak and more.

I had presented three talks at Symposium: Addressing Knowledge Gaps and for Saving the Small Apes: Lessons from Research, Conservation, and Outreach (presentation title: Identification of New Habitats and Hunting of Western Hoolock Gibbon in Bangladesh through Community-based Conservation Initiative); Symposium: A Many-Splendored World, Part 1: Current Status and Conservation of the Long-Tailed Macaque (presentation title: Behavior and Ecology of the Burmese Long-tailed Macaque in Bangladesh); Symposium: Conservation in Action: Insights from IPS Conservation Grant and Scholarship Awardees (presentation title: Status and Distribution of the Western Hoolock Gibbon at the Degraded and Fragmented Forest of Bangladesh). Two presentations were the findings of my PhD research on the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) in northeast and southeast Bangladesh. This research is supervised by Dr. Nadine Ruppert and Dr. Susan Lappan.

Discussions were conducted with Dr. Dilip Chetry, Scientist, Arannayk Foundation, India for future transboundary collaboration to western hoolock gibbon conservation. Dr. Thomas Geissmann, Anthropological Institute of Zurich University, Switzerland, Peng-Fei Fan, Professor, Sun Yat-Sen University, China, Dr. Susan Cheyne, IUCN Section on Small Apes, Dr. Herbert Covert, Professor, University of Colorado, USA and Dr. Anthony Rylands, Primate Conservation Director were provided valuable feedback about the future western hoolock gibbons conservation approach.

I engaged in Malaysian Primatological Society booth as a volunteer on 21 August and 24 August 2023. I also attended several symposiums, roundtable and session including the roundtable of the Future of the Malaysian Primates and Global Gibbon Network (GGN) satellite meeting.

IPS-MPS Congress 2023 was given me a lifetime achievement to meet up authors of the books of primates. This is also provide me ideas about development of the school children education materials.
Finally, gratefully acknowledge to Malaysian Primatological Society for proving support to attend this conference.

This congress is unique opportunity to disseminate the existing knowledge, adopt to new knowledge and methodology and interaction with global primatologist. This is my first opportunity to provide the presentation in front of large scientists communities. Everyone was supportive for developing the capacities of the young participants. They extended their cooperation and encouragement to the participants for the more discussion about project activities.