Deep in a national park in Thailand, primatologist and National Geographic Explorer Andie Ang was about to witness something magical. Along with a group of Thai researchers, she was there to track a group of wild gibbons. It was dark and cold in the forest, and the group was waiting for sunrise to catch a glimpse of the now-slumbering gibbons.
As the sun started peeking through the forest, she heard it. One by one, the gibbons raised loud calls that resonated through the forest. As the sun rose higher, Andie saw more and more of the golden apes. From elsewhere in the forest, other gibbons responded to the first group's loud calls.
In the new National Geographic podcast Expedition: Earth, Andie says that this was the moment she knew: she wanted to work in and be close to the forest.
Growing up in urban Singapore, not many of us have had the chance to experience such magical moments in nature. But with the two years of lockdown, Andie sees a positive trend of people visiting local nature areas.
"People also started to take photos and videos, and use social media to share nature-related stuff," says Andie in a separate Zoom interview. "I think there was an increase in awareness. And with situations like the erroneous clearing of Kranji forest, it got people to think: what are we doing to our nature spaces?"
Andie has over 10 years of field experience studying wild primates in Southeast Asia. In 2014, she received a National Geographic grant to construct aerial crossings for endangered Indochinese silvered langurs in Vietnam.
Today, she studies the critically endangered Raffles banded langurs in Singapore, clocking in many hours at Thomson Nature Park to study the elusive primates. Though her main research is geared towards the protection of primates, she remains invested in the question: how can we coexist peacefully with nature and wildlife?
A catch-22?
While it's great that Singaporeans are visiting nature parks and showing greater appreciation of wildlife, there will inevitably be greater friction as our built environment increasingly encroaches into natural spaces.
Just flip through the news and you'll see reports of clashes between man and nature – otters eating up expensive koi fish, wild boars harming passers-by in residential areas, and macaques raiding university dorms.
Then, there are those who act irresponsibly: removing wildlife from their habitats, feeding animals, or clearing trails where there were none, and in a striking incident last year, beachgoers digging up sea creatures at Changi Beach – an act that harms the animals and wrecks the habitat.
Good intentions, bad outcomes
When we bring this up, Andie says, "It's a hard balance to strike."
And she should know better than anyone, having witnessed monkeys get killed or injured when going after food left behind by well-meaning individuals. Andie says, "These people come from a good place, but the consequences are so bad."
For her, it comes down to a lack of experience and awareness. For one thing, "Even though we do have nature parks and green spaces, I think kids are brought up to believe that nature can be very scary," says Andie in the podcast.
She echoes this sentiment in our interview, saying, "If you just ask people about nature and wanting to care about nature, but you don’t bring people out to see or interact, you can’t elicit that sentiment or emotion. It’s usually when we see the animals in the wild that we value them. But that’s the gap right? There’s insufficient education or awareness about how to interact with wildlife."
Mending our relationship with nature
It is precisely this alienation from nature that we must tackle to foster the right respect and appreciation for it.
As president of the Jane Goodall Institute in Singapore, Andie is determined to change things through public education and awareness efforts. "You don’t have to love all aspects of wildlife, but you have to know how to coexist with them and to know that they are part of the ecosystem."
And she's got simple tips for Singaporeans who are starting to venture out into our nature parks and forest reserves. "It’s not feeding the animals. It’s not taking the animals. It’s not clearing trails in the forest that’s undesignated," says Andie, who also encourages people to slow down and take the time to observe and appreciate animals.
She adds, "Knowing the do’s and don’ts ensure you can appreciate wildlife without disturbing them. This is something we need to continue to do, because more and more people are going out to nature areas, and nature is coming more and more into our spaces too, to become a city in nature."
To learn more about Singapore National Geographic Andie Ang, her work, and her thoughts on coexisting with wildlife in urban Singapore, listen to the podcast Expedition: Earth here.
