Is the SSA for me?

We’re here to help you help gibbons.

Are you a researcher, conservationist, or student of gibbons? If you have skills that can help save small apes, then please join us.

There’s strength in numbers. We apply pressure together to get things done.

As the biggest community of gibbon experts in the world, we understand your needs. We offer practical support, access to resources and conferences, and funding opportunities: SSA members regularly lead funding applications to the Arcus Foundation, our main backers.

Between us, we’re a force to be reckoned with – and we’re their best hope.

Who does the SSA welcome?

Anyone who can help! Veteran experts, post-grad students, educators and outreach specialists, geneticists, experts in captive management, community development, or behavioural ecology, protected area managers, researchers… The list goes on.

We asked some of our members how the SSA is important for their work.

Having a platform to ask colleagues for help and advice is an important lifeline in situations that can arise in a rescue centre, and in human-wildlife conflict situations in the field.

– Inge Tielen, Conservation Manager at Wanicare Foundation and Cikananga Wildlife Center in Java, Indonesia

The SSA is a great way of linking gibbon experts from a variety of backgrounds to help advise each other and determine the best ways to educate others interested in gibbons outside of the SSA.

– Meredith L. Bastian, PhD., Curator of Primates at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC, USA

The SSA helps to conserve gibbons. I work in a zoo so to exchange experiences and knowledge is very important for the welfare of the gibbons in captivity. And educating people about gibbons during my work is important as well, especially on International Gibbon Day.

– Judith van der Loo, MSc., Animal Keeper and Primatologist at Beekse Bergen Safari Park, Netherlands; member of the SSA Captive Working Group

The SSA is very important for my work, as it helps me to keep updated with recent research, and researchers across the globe. It also brings me closer to the gibbon lovers spread globally.

– Jayashree Mazumder, PhD. Scholar at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, India; SSA Student Representative