Whoops of hope for threatened species

Above the patter of rain cascading through the jungle canopy comes the haunting call of a pileated gibbon singing to fend off intruders in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains.

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It is being recorded as part of work harnessing hidden microphones, cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to reveal the secrets of species living deep in the rainforest and help protect them.

To conservationist Ratha Sor, the whoops and whistles are the sound of hope - a sign that the country’s largest remaining stretch of intact rainforest is healthy enough to support the endangered species.

Gibbons are “indicators that our forest is still alive”, he said.

By showing that everything from pangolins to elephants call the Cardamom Mountains home, conservationists hope to secure its future, in a country that has lost over a third of its forest cover in the last 25 years.

“This is the real evidence we are conserving very unique species in our landscape,” said Sor, biodiversity and science manager at Conservation International (CI), a US-headquartered non-profit.