CERCOPAN

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 25 2008 | By: cercopan

CERCOPAN (Centre for Education, Research and Conservation of Primates and Nature: www.cercopan.org) is urgently recruiting for a volunteer veterinarian to start September/October 2008. The voluntary position involves managing the veterinary programme for a busy primate rehabilitation (over 150 primates of 6 rainforest species) and conservation project in southern Nigeria. Duties include management and training of primate care staff, training veterinary nurse, developing and implementing a programme of training for a newly employed national veterinarian. The position will also involve monitoring preventative medicine, following reintroduction and quarantine protocol guidelines and coordinating veterinary activities.

This is a challenging and rewarding position for anyone interested in making a contribution to primate conservation and working in wildlife veterinary medicine.

Requirements: Experience or second degree in wildlife veterinary medicine

Provisions: Room, board and a Sterling stipend are provided, as are flights (from Europe/UK only) for a minimum 1 year contract, preferably 2 years.

Please send covering letter, references (preferably email contact) and CV to claire.coulson@cercopan.or OR zena@cercopan.org

One response so far

Category: Cercopan, Conservation, Monkeys, Nigeria, Uncategorized | Date: Aug 17 2008 | By: cercopan

By Austin Igbebor, Primate caregiver

Austin

Sclater’s Guenons (Cercopithecus Sclateri) are Nigeria’s only endemic primate. At CERCOPAN we provide home to the only individuals of this endangered species known to occur in captivity. Sclater’s monkeys are beautifully coloured and very unique among our guenons. Most hot afternoons, they spend time relaxing and grooming themselves while other monkeys are foraging for insects.  The sclater’s monkeys are really beautiful to behold with their “punky” hairstyle finely cut out by nature, which gives them a sharp look as if they are just coming out of the barbers shop. The sclater’s monkeys have white ear tufts, milky white nose and their tails are a combination of three colours half way red, halfway white and black at the tips. Sadly, despite these qualities of beauty and uniqueness, they are being seriously hunted and their habitat destroyed and this is having a devastating impact on their wild population, slowly driving these wonderful creatures to local extinction. CERCOPAN as a forest monkey rehabilitation centre has come to the rescue of this primate species.

Austin feeding Scarlet

Currently at CERCOPAN we are rehabilitating a small group of sclater’s monkeys consisting of six individuals, they are cared for by me (Austin) and my fellow care givers. We provide them with various kinds of stimulating enrichments such as ropes tied at various angles, poles, tree branches, wooden platforms, bamboo poles, wood shavings etc….. All these enrichments enable them enhance their natural skills and instincts within the confines of their enclosure.

Now let me briefly introduce you to our dear Sclater’s monkeys. They have a well and strictly organized social structure, and a one male-multi-female behavioural structure. “Frankie” is the alpha male and sole protector of the group, an absolute leader with no contenders (of course there’s no other adult male in the group to compete for the position of the alpha male with him!). “Scarlet” is the alpha female and the oldest member of the group, a foster mother who protects and cares for all the other Sclater’s babies who arrive (including Frankie who is now the alpha male). Scarlet nurses and carries the orphans in the ventral-ventral position guaranteeing their security.

Alpha male, Frankie

“Ubie” an adult female loves eating and spends most of the time relaxing with “Uto” a juvenile female who is the most aggressive of all the Sclater’s. Uto takes so much pleasure in threatening and harassing “Naira”, a very calm and low ranking member of the group. Sadly,  Naira is mostly deprived of the most vital and valuable social activity of a monkey, grooming, and this is gradually cutting her off from the social glue that bonds individuals together.

Naira

Finally the baby of the group, a very stubborn orphan infant male whose parents were killed for the bush meat trade. He was not too long ago weaned by Scarlet his foster mother and is now beginning to practice adult activities like mounting naira, exhibiting dominate displays and expressing high aggression. In the future, thsi monkey will possibly be a major contender to Frankie. At this point I will like to introduce to you “Pegasus” the baby sclater’s, a good looking fluffy monkey who still takes milk from a bottle every morning and evening to supplement his mothers milk. How he loves drinking his milk, always looking expectant. Though Pegasus proves to be very strong he always solicits for supports from Scarlet when he’s in real trouble.

 Scarlet and Pegasus

I pray that someday our sclater’s monkeys will begin to procreate and that they can eventually be re-introduced back to their natural forest ecosystem where they will have all the benefits of their natural habitat at its best.

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Category: Cercopan, Monkeys, Nigeria, Uncategorized | Date: Aug 07 2008 | By: cercopan

by Emma Higgs

Who wouldn’t want to hand rear orphan monkeys?! After working with wildlife for over 10 years, I again reached a time in my life when I was free to try something new. From seals to monkeys and from Ireland to Nigeria, that was the size of the change I was looking for. Cercopan seemed like a wonderful organisation. The monkeys are mainly the result of the tragic, ongoing bushmeat trade but with Cercopan’s multifaceted approach to dealing with the issue as well as with the casualties it seemed to me that great strides were being made by this NGO.

Emma, Melody and Joy

‘Joy’ was one such casualty, an orphan baby Mona monkey. She arrived at Cercopan with her ‘owner’, a young girl. It was with much persuasion that she was eventually handed over to our care. As seems to be the norm, the girl was expecting Cercopan to pay for the monkey, but as it is illegal to keep monkeys as pets in Nigeria anyway, it is policy here not to pay for them. Trying to talk the person around is the first method the staff here use, if this doesn’t work then the monkey has to be officially confiscated by the Forestry Commission.

Joy

The keepers here at Cercopan get to name the orphaned baby monkeys when they come in with no name, but with little idea of her personality ‘Joy’ is an uncannily fitting name.

Weighing only 300g, yet being roughly 3 months old, Joy was very underweight for her age. She was taken inside and settled in with a surrogate (teddy) monkey, offered milk, baby formula, and eagerly grabbed the bottle and started sucking away. She needed no encouragement to start putting on weight.  

Joy arrived shortly after our other baby Mona; Melody. The contrast is stark. Poor Melody is still very insecure and clingy whereas Joy, after a feed, snooze then cuddle, was more than happy to start exploring the couch, climbing the cushions and leaping around in an altogether joyful manor!

Melody Joy and “Mum”

Teeth and hair are ways of assessing a monkeys age when they are babies. Despite the 8 week head start, Joy is the same weight as Melody. She has however, a larger than life disposition! Much as we are saddened by the arrival of orphaned baby monkeys, we were delighted for Melody’s sake that she would now have a monkey playmate and teacher. It is the norm, so I’m told, that when you introduce one orphan to another, by the end of the day they will be inseparable. The end of three days later there seems to be some bonding going on.

Bonding

Joy just seems to be so full of the joys of life that she can’t help bounding around at playtime, leaping on Melody’s head, grabbing her by the hair and altogether trying to rough and tumble with petrified, still psychologically damaged, delicate little Melody. Life really hasn’t gone as planned for Joy but it looks like she is not going to let that get in the way of making the best of what’s to come…

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