CERCOPAN

Category: Cercopan, Monkeys, Nigeria, Uncategorized | Date: Jul 16 2008 | By: cercopan

by Kristine Krynitzki

Shuffling backwards Johnnyface enters the office tied to what looks like the remnants of a ratty old ripped apart T-shirt. He is very thin, most of the fur on his tail has fallen off, and he is so scared that he is at first hesitant to eat the banana we place in front of him, despite the fact that he is obviously ravenously hungry. Johnnyface came into CERCOPAN a sad little mona, but what is even sadder is that he is only one of many of cases just like this.  

Johnnyface on arrival, tightly bound with a scrap of old T-shirt

Johnnyface was very different than all of the other orphans that have arrived since I have been here. When most babies come in they are desperate for attention and cling to the first person who begins to take care of them. But Johnnyface, despite his young age, wanted nothing to do with humans. He would cower in the corner whenever I went to take him out of his travel box to run around and play. When I did manage to get him out, he would run to the furthest point away from me and sit staring blankly out the window for hours on end. It even took him a few days to accept the food we were trying to give him. I would place a piece of pineapple or cucumber in front of him and he would look down at it and then back up at me sceptically, as though he was fearful it was a trap. This monkey must have been in a particularly bad situation as it took many days before he began to come around. 

Johnnyface eyeing the camera suspiciously

Johnnyface was caught in a battle between his mistrust of humans and desperation for love. After many days attempting to give him attention, he finally began to carefully approach me and bow his head to be groomed. We would sit there like this, me gently grooming the thin coat of fur that just barely covers his frail body, until an unexpected noise sounded like the opening of a door. He would then quickly scamper off back to his safe spot on the window sill until he could work up the courage to venture over again.  This type of distrusting behaviour was characteristic of Johnnyface for quite some time. Luckily after a week he began to feel more comfortable with me and would get excited before our play time together each afternoon. He began to explore his new surroundings, climbing the tall bookcase in the living room, testing his balancing skills jumping from object to object. He even started to make a soft squeak whenever I left the room for a minute, indicating that he did not want me to go. Although he still will not allow anyone to pick him up, he is much more accepting of human contact now.  

Shortly after his arrival I began to introduce Johnnyface to Ema, the other baby I was caring for at the time. I initally placed Ema on the table in front of the door to Johnnyface’s box, but they just looked at each other, not really too interested. The next day however, Johnnyface began to reach out and grab Ema’s hand whenever she ventured close enough. From that day forward they have been the best of friends and are inseparable. In their new outdoor enclosure they play on the swing, chase each other across the branches and can be found every morning locked together in an affectionate embrace. After three months they will both need to move into larger quarters. We hope by that time to have raised enough funds to construct new enclosures to house them and all of the other orphans desperately waiting to leave quarantine (with further space for additional newcomers!). If you would like to help Ema and Johnnyface, please donate to our enclosure appeal today.

Johnnyface and Ema playing with their food!