Not monkey business
July 07, 2022#NUSSustainability
Our Life Sciences alumna Dr Andie ANG had her first brush with a primate when her relatives gave her a small vervet monkey when she was 10 years old.
Caring for the monkey cemented her lifelong love of biodiversity conservation, and it was the reason why Andie ventured into the highly specialised field of primatology, as she wanted to learn more about the threats monkeys face in the illegal wildlife trade and protect them.
She specialises in studying the Raffles’ banded langur, a critically endangered species. They are shy and hard to find, so there has been less research on them. Andie works with national agencies, educational and non-governmental organisations and local communities to protect them – especially those living between forests and urban areas.
She says, “Despite being a small island, Singapore is home to a rich biodiversity. However, as with other highly urbanised countries, human-wildlife conflict is a serious concern in space-limited Singapore.”
Here, Andie shares on the joys and challenges in primate conservation, her sentiments and experiences on human-wildlife interactions and how we can coexist with nature in Singapore. She also hopes to change public mindsets on nature by giving them more opportunities to be with nature.
Andie is an Honorary Research Affiliate at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.
She has also served as the President of the Jane Goodall Institute since 2018, overseeing outreach programmes which aim to promote greater awareness and protection of nature and wildlife. She concurrently chairs the Raffles’ Banded Langur Working Group, which is tasked to study and conserve the species.
Find out more here.
