Prime Earth: Latest News

Quoting Fan et al. (2017): “Group-level manual laterality in humans is related to hemispheric functional lateralization and cognitive functions”.... Just kidding, sometimes hand and brain stuff can sound very complex and confusing, we know! So here's the lowdown just for you: The intricate and detailed connections in primates between how our brains function and how our hands work IS really complex. And it’s REALLY cool too! Because when you take a moment to pause and appreciate how amazing it is that you can think a thought in your mind with your imagination and then actually bring that idea to life in the physical world by using your hands, it’s an astonishing reminder of just how amazing our human bodies really are. Your dog can’t do that. Nor can your cat, or the bird flying by outside. Not even that raccoons who manage to pull the lid off the garbage cans no matter how hard you try to stop them from getting in there, can use their brains and hands the way we do. ...

Indulge in the sweet side of saving gibbons this Easter by reading the labels of all the chocolate and candy products you buy to ensure they are palm-oil free. Palm oil is pretty much everywhere, it’s one of the most widely used vegetable oils in the world, and a very popular choice amongst manufacturers due to its high yield and versatility. But there are alternatives if you look for them and it just takes a few extra seconds to scan the label of the products you buy to ensure they are palm oil free. Why do we recommend avoiding palm oil completely? Sadly palm oil development for global consumption is the main culprit fueling deforestation in South-East Asia. The top three regions where palm oil is produced are: Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, where more than 85% of the global supply of palm oil is grown. The industry is linked to major environmental and humanitarian issues driving deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses...

The world is an amazing place and we're on a mission to live in harmony with nature and create a more compassionate world... are you coming?  Like us on Facebook or visit our website at   www.primeearthonline.org.

A study published in the American Journal of Primatology this month has described a new species of hoolock gibbon ranging in eastern Myanmar and southwestern China. Now these aren't an entirely new group of animals never seen before, but researchers looking at their pelage colouration and song patterns have determined that certain gibbons previously identified as  Hoolock leucogenys  are actually distinctive enough from other  leucogenys  species to warrant a new name classification. The new scientific name is:  Hoolock tianxing and the new common name they recommend is: "Skywalker Hoolock Gibbon". A Direct Connection To Star Wars?  Well it just so happens, as the authors explain in their paper, that "tianxing" means heaven's movement or skywalker in mainland Chinese phonetic alphabet - a name they picked referring to the unique mode of locomotion gibbons use termed: brachiation.... But we also happen to know that principal investigato...

Recent events at the Cincinnati Zoo have been bombarding our PE newsfeeds lately and while I am pleased by the outpouring of emotion all over social media from concerned people, the rampant attacks and finger pointing is also driving me nuts. So I offer some perspective here in an effort to help make sense of a tragic incident for our friends and followers who may be wondering what to think, and to provide some useful tips for the next time you visit a zoo… First, it's important to recognize that this was a terrible tragedy and the Cincinnati Zoo Staff/Response Team faced an incredibly difficult decision. As far as I am aware, they followed their protocol to protect the child. I think Jeff Corwin has done a great job of discussing the facts we know as outside observers and offers some important points to consider (unlike Jack Hanna who made several problematic statements). Zoos have come a long way since the Cincinnati Zoo was first established in the 1930...

Wanderlust: an irresistible desire to travel to understand one’s very existence. … Moments before midnight on January 25 th 2007, I stepped off a Boeing 777 and shuffled my way through air-con-icebox corridors following a wave of people into the expansive white warehouse style rooms of the Suvarnabhumi airport. I collected my backpack and walked out into the thick humid Bangkok air for the very first time. I climbed into the prearrange car service I set up only a few hours earlier from Hong Kong, and was rocketed off to a mysterious hotel booked by my friend who’s flight was delay until the next day. It’s been 6 and a half years since that initial tentative excursion, but now traveling to Thailand is just a habitual part of my way of life. I think about it all the time. My friends will tell you I talk about it all the time. Sometimes I even take it for granted, and “I could never do that” comments from friends and strangers when referring to my life startle me. Anyone can do th...

We are finally here! After months of planning, Josh and I touched down in Suvarnabumhi late Thursday night and made our way out of the airport to our hostel for some much needed sleep after a long journey! For the past two days we've been puttering around Bangkok going to the malls and markets to pick up supplies for the rest of our stay in Khao Yai. It's been an interesting two days, I'm absolutely amazed by how many things have changed since I left in such a short time, just over a year and a half ago. Mostly it's just new construction: new renovations to the malls, new sky scrappers, new stores, new streets and roadways. But the people and the atmosphere is still the same: friendly faces, intense heat and lots of traffic noise. We start the trek out to Khao Yai in about two hours, and may not have internet access for a few days to a week, but I will continue to post more updates as frequently as I can. Can't wait to get back and see all my friends again, ...

We're into the final countdown, only 4 DAYS left! Help make it happen for the Jackie Prime Project with our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Contribute today: http:// igg.me/p/278625/twtr Tweet Follow @primejm Tweet to @primejm

Help make it happen for the Jackie Prime Project! Only 15 days left!! Please contribute to our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign: http://igg.me/p/278625 Tweet Follow @primejm Tweet to @primejm

Three years ago I landed in Bangkok, tired from a really long flight from Canada, worried about how I was going to get out of the airport with all my baggage/field equipment, and feeling very aware of the fact that I was completely alone on the other side of the world. Armed with some research equipment, a video camera, and a solid pair of hiking boots, I had arrived in Thailand to begin my PhD research and was moving into the jungle to study primates at UNESCO World Heritage Site, Khao Yai National Park. It was the start of my biggest adventure to date. The for next two years I would live with Thai locals as the only foreign researcher in one of Thailand’s largest, and most celebrated, protected rainforests. And relying only on the kindness of strangers, I had to learn the local language fast and figure out how things worked to make new friends in order to survive so far away from home. I documented my journey in this blog for my friends and family to read, but soon the blog g...

We're raising money to start-up our programs! The Jackie Prime Project is run entirely by volunteers and we need a little extra support to help get things going. So t his weekend we launched our very first fundraising campaign for the Jackie Prime Project!! I t's a global crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo.com, which means anyone can contribute by claiming perks to help us get started as an organisation. You can read the full campaign (and contribute) here: http://igg.me/p/278625   Our goal is to raise $5000.00 and the campaign will run for 47 days.   We are trying to raise start-up funds to help us apply for charity registration, buy some new camera equipment, cover some expenses for our first activities (printing education posters about monkeys & gibbons for Khao Yai, and buying new uniforms for kids in Khao Yai to have for school), and cover travel expenses for a staff trip to Thailand with our student volunteers (3 people will go). ...

Many people ask me how I got into studying gibbons for a living, and quite honestly there is no direct answer to that question, because it wasn’t a direct route. When I was growing up in Burlington, I wanted to be many things: first on the list (so I’m told by my parents) was a “ballerina hockey player” but that’s too far back for me to even remember saying, and I don’t really dance or skate these days so that was probably a bit of a stretch. One clear target that I do know from as far back as I can remember is that I always wanted to get my PhD. By the time I was about 4 or 5 years old, I had firmly established in my mind that I wanted to be called “Dr. Prime” when I grew up because that’s my Dad’s name (he has a PhD in chemistry), and I wanted to be like my Dad. So from the moment I first started school until this very day, that destination has always firmly held the course, and thus likely guided the navigation parameters since then. The rest of the story follows with many sente...