Archive for the ‘Monkeys’ Category
After a week observing Abonema and Murphy in adjacent quarantine enclosures, we finally placed them together on Monday, and as you can see they are already inseparable. Indeed, Murphy spends most of his time clinging to Abonemas chest or riding on his back.
Unfortunately, no matter how close the two male Managabeys have become, food is still their number one priority and as a result we are being forced to find more and more ingenious ways to prevent Abonema stealing all of Murphy’s milk. Generally with patience, cunning and well timed ‘food bribery’ however, we can lure Abonema into another enclosure to allow Murphy enough time to drink his bottle in peace. The two will now remain together in quarantine until Murphy has competed his full three months and then we will have the complex process of trying to integrate them into a suitable social group.
I have just received some reports and photographs from the bush so thought I would post a quick update on the progress of our release group. Three months after the release of the Bebi, July and Nko, we have not lost any individuals, the group has remained in the area planned to be their home-range, no major health problems have been noted and the radio tracking equipment is still functioning. Since the beginning, the three animals have stayed together as a group, with July leading and protecting the others from any potential threats. Indeed, July has been observed chasing red eared monkeys on two occasions, when they entered the same crown as the group. July has also been observed copulating with Bebi on two occasions, although these are certainly more social mounts, given the weak probability of Bebi being receptive.
So far, the group has remained inside the Core Area, with no single foray into the research area, community forest, or main camp. Using a grid system established inside the forest on the release site, we have been able to measure and assess the size of home-range in addition to the daily travel length. The approximate home-range size is now between 7 and 8 ha, and the daily length range is 750m. The 2 first months were characterized by a smaller home-range size and daily length range (2.5 ha for 350m per day), since the group was located in part of the forest rich in food resources, especially fruits. Since the production of their top 3 food species decreased, and we have been able to discern a noticeable increase in time spent travelling.
Food provisioning is still carried out, but with a process of progressive decrease in the provided amount. During the two first weeks after the release, we supplied the group with food twice a day, once in the morning and again in the late afternoon. We then decreased the provisioning to once a day, usually in the beginning of the afternoon as we observed that the group could find enough food and fruit on their own. Since the beginning of January 2008 however, food is provided only once every two or three days. This new reduction should allow the group to become more independent, and to reduce human/monkey interactions.
The group tend to spend the early morning and end afternoon in the upper stratum of the forest, with more time in the lower layers/on the ground in the middle of the day. They own several sleeping trees they leave in the morning and that constitute central points around which they travel during the day. The Monas often follow the stream close to the release enclosure, walking in the water or on the banks, jumping from roots to trunks and foraging in the water on arthropods. Surprisingly, the largest percentage of time spent foraging is actually on arthropods, with fruits and seeds forming the second main food category.
July and Nko following the stream We are all delighted that the Monas are doing well and that they have adapted so readily to life in the wild. Working at CERCOPAN can be emotionally draining at times, watching animals that have been poorly treated entering our gates day after day and losing animals that we have worked so hard to save. Nevertheless, watching the footage of our newly wild Mona’s makes everything else we endure worthwhile. Not only does it mark a second chance for Bebi, Nko and July, but it also fills us with hope for all of the other monkeys that we will one day follow them.
On behalf of everyone here at CERCOPAN, thank you so much to Antonio, Theresa and Cathy for your donations. The donation from Theresa will be used to supply our new babies with milk and vital drugs and those from Antonio and Cathy will support our environmental education outreach programme in Calabar and surrounding rural areas.
As a non-profit making NGO we really are utterly reliant upon the generosity of individuals, companies and foundations to undertake our vital work here in Nigeria. Consequently, everything we are able to achieve is thanks to people like you. Thanks again
Yesterday, another orphan primate, an infant Mona named J.B, entered the gates of CERCOPAN. Abraham, our ever vigilant night security guard had passed a compound and observed the monkey riding on the back of a dog.
After speaking to Abraham, Jerry and Uche drove to the site hoping to persuade J.B’s owners to release him into our care. In the end, I would say that this animal was actually more of a donation than a confiscation as the family did not hesitate to hand him over once Uche and Jerry explained why primates should not be kept as pets. Indeed, the head of the family even requested permission to visit CERCOPAN HQ today so that they can learn more about primates!
The owners dog however, was not as keen for us to take J.B away and ran after the travel box whining. J.B spent all of his early life playing with and suckling from the dog and so it will be vital once he has had all of his vaccinations and tests to find him a new friend so that he will not be lonely.
J.B is our 7th new primate since the middle of October and our premises are becoming increasingly crowded. If this continues over the coming weeks, we may be forced to construct new enclosures or to extend our existing facilities in order to deal with the sheer number of animals. In addition, the sudden influx of primates is placing tremendous strain on our financial resources as the price of primate food has almost doubled in the last year.
It has been another amazingly busy week at CERCOPAN and despite trying every day to find the time to write our blog, this is the first spare minute I have actually had! The highlight of the last week was the arrival of another Mangabey on Wednesday, this time a 7 month old infant male. The call came in at around 9.00am, from Abraham, one of our night security guards. On his way home from work, he had spotted the baby playing with a dog and a group of children in someone’s backyard. As soon as I put down the phone, Richard, Jerry and Egu (one of our primate keepers), prepared a travel box and headed off in the truck to meet Abraham. Speed is always imperative with confiscations, even a slight delay can mean that the animal is no longer on view, or worse still, it has disappeared altogether.
The team arrived at the compound to find a tiny Mangabey, drinking from a bowl of stagnant water. The monkey, later known to be called “Murphy”, was not chained, but looked very malnourished and dirty. After introducing the team as CERCOPAN employees, Jerry asked to speak with the owner of the monkey. Nobody immediately stepped forward, so our staff handed out educational materials, including a poster entitled “Why monkeys do not make good pets” whilst they waited. After about 15 minutes a man approached Jerry and proclaimed that he was the rightful owner of the animal, having bought the creature from a hunter and subsequently paid for its feed.
Despite Jerry’s generally very persuasive manner and his repeated pleas for the monkey to be donated to CERCOPAN, the owner stubbornly refused to part with the Mangabey without some form of financial compensation. This is a common problem, as people tend to feel that they should be repaid for having bought and fed the animal. In most cases, the owners relent once they are certain that we will not pay, but this man held firm and threatened that he would rather kill the monkey and go to jail than hand him over for free.
As time passed, the crowd grew and tempers began to fray, with all bystanders supporting the owners claim to compensation. Jerry however, remained calm, firm and patient, explaining repeatedly that buying the monkey constituted trading in endangered wildlife and that we would rather solve the problem via calm discussion than involve the police. After approximately two hours of negotiating, the mood finally changed and the owner handed Murphy to Richard, along with a smile and a hand shake. This little Mangabey is very lucky that we found him when we did, given that he is approximately half the size that he should be at his age. Thankfully he is already taking to the bottle well, so I am sure that it will not be too long before he catches up to his age mates at CERCOPAN.
I, and everyone here at CERCOPAN would like to thank everybody for their support and understanding over the death of baby Linda. We were all very saddened by it particularly as she had put up such a brave fight. We were very touched by your comments left on the website. It is good to know there are people out there who care even though you had not the opportunity to meet her. Thank you.
Yesterday, I arrived at work at 6am to find Linda sat up in her travel box looking reasonably alert, yet by 10am her health had plummeted once again. She simply lay on her side without reacting as we cleaned her box and tried to make her comfortable with a hot water bottle. At 12.05pm Heather administered drugs in a desperate bid to pull her round, but all of our efforts were in vain and at 9.30pm last night Linda finally gave up the fight. Putty nosed guenon babies tend to go downhill rapidly and it is always difficult to bring them back to health once they are sick and weakened. Knowing this, we had prepared ourselves for the worst, but I think deep down we all secretly believed this tough little monkey would make it through. I apologise for not posting news earlier, but as you can imagine everyone here is feeling pretty low today.
Linda took a turn for the worse yesterday evening and left Vet-nurse Heather Macintosh fearing that she would not make it through the night. At 6pm Linda was listless, lying on her side and seemed extremely depressed. Heather immediately cancelled all of her plans for the evening so that she could constantly monitor the babys progress. By 10.00pm Linda was vomiting the fruit she had eaten earlier in the day and Heather decided to contact the vet to discuss additional treatment. They agreed to administer anti-nausea drugs and gave fluids under the skin to re-hydrate her. After providing a new hot water bottle for the night, Heather left her to sleep and we all went to bed very worried about what the new day would bring. Fortunately, when Heather checked again at 6am Linda was sat up, curious and strong enough to put up a fight when she was given her milk. This set back means that we will need to delay her return to the group to allow her to recover sufficiently. Nevertheless, all of us here at CERCOPAN are thankful that she made it through the night and again seems to be on the road to recovery.
Linda was born in captivity at CERCOPAN to mother “Let it be” on 11th June 2007. She was named after Linda Howard, a long term supporter of CERCOPAN and campaigner for primate welfare who died on July 27th 2006. Putty nosed Guenon Linda had a rocky start in life, being blighted with an umbilical hernia from birth. We wrestled with the decision over whether to operate and decided against it, as hernias often resolve themselves and anaesthesia at such a young age can be highly risky. Fortunately over the next few months the hernia gradually reduced in size and now is hardly visible.
In the last few weeks however, Linda has become very thin, lethargic and is no longer her usual bouncy self. We separated her to run some tests and identify the problem, but all proved negative and we now believe that the sudden change may be due to her mother’s milk drying up. At the moment we are worming Linda and trying to feed her up so that she can go back to her family. She is eating well and is lively and curious in her travel box, but is obviously missing her mother and calls for her constantly.
Linda will complete her course of treatment at the weekend and will be put back into the group, but we will need to supplement her diet daily with milk. It is difficult to ensure that Linda will receive her fair share in the communal enclosure as the other putties are more dominant and therefore have priority access to food. Once again we are all crossing our fingers for this putty baby, if she deteriorates this time we will be faced with the difficult decision of whether to separate her permanently in order to save her life. Check back to find out how Linda and Let it be react when they are reunited after over a week apart.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from all of the staff and Volunteers at CERCOPAN!
A couple of days ago I was handed a letter from the Conservation club of Agoi Ibami. I found it very touching and would like to share it with you. “Community secondary school, Agoi Ibami gives Kudos to CERCOPAN The popularity of the school conservation club started when it participated in the CERCOPAN banner contest. In this contest, the school took first position. The club members were given certificate of participation and trips to Calabar and Rhoko Camp were also arranged for the conservation club members. This trip afforded the club members to see live monkeys in cages in Calabar and monkeys in the wild in Rhoko Camp. The educational unit of CERCOPAN also organised intra school debate. This contest afforded the students the opportunity to speak in public as well as added something to their curriculum. One of the most interesting activities that CERCOPAN ever organised was the release of Mona monkeys. The monkeys that gain their freedom were happy but the organisations, schools and personalities that graced the occasion were happier. To drive home their happiness, all of the speeches that were rendered borded on how to promote as well as embrace conservation of Nature and Primates. The school conservation clubs that were present displays, drama, quiz and display of word cards. All of these school activities were all aimed at exposing the damage inherent in destruction of nature without replacement. The climax was “All should promote conservation”. The good works of CERCOPAN must not be wasted. To this end the youths, the stakeholders, farmers and all of the forest users should hear and understand the language of conservation and the ban on killing of monkeys”
The reason that this letter struck a particular chord with me was that it proved others had been similarly affected by the release occasion. As conservationists, it can be easy to become overwhelmed and disillusioned by the magnitude of the task we set ourselves. It is sometimes difficult to see how we will ever make a difference when despite monumental effort by people around the world, forests and animals continue to disappear and attitudes often remain unchanged. The release occasion was special to me because for the first time ever, I no longer felt the aim of my job was to stall for time in the hope that circumstances would change before nothing was left. I felt as though we had changed circumstances, we were winning and that all of our hard work was truly worthwhile.
When CERCOPAN first began working with the village of Iko Esai in 2000, monkeys were hunted, the forest was being logged and conservation was a word that people simply didn’t use. Seven years on, the 300ha core area is fully protected from all forms of exploitation, the village have imposed a ban on hunting monkeys and conservation is becoming a part of daily life. On the 9th November we organised an occasion in the village to mark the release of three mona monkeys into the core area. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of the release project within Iko Esai and in the neighbouring communities of Owai, Agoi Ibami, Ekperem and Ifumpka. Although we set an agenda, we gave the villages’ free reign to present whatever deemed appropriate.
It is difficult to select one particular part of the release occasion that affected me most, to be quite frank there were just so many memorable moments. It could have been when the Igban dancers presented “Allow monkey to live”, or when the children cautioned through drama and song that they would be left with nothing if destructive activities were allowed to continue. I certainly had tears in my eyes when person after person, from village after village, stood up and proclaimed the desperate need to protect their natural heritage. In the end however, I believe the greatest impact for me was hearing a crowd of over a thousand people from many different communities all chanting “Allow monkey to live” in unison. When you spend each day working to protect and conserve primates, what could ever mean more than that? Please click on the small video clip below to view an impassioned speech on the release occasion. |
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