CERCOPAN

Category: Cercopan, Environmental education saving endangered primates, Monkeys, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Oct 16 2009 | By: cercopan

On Wednesday (14^th October) despite doing everything we possibly could, we were unable to save a young male mona monkey brought to us at CERCOPAN.  This tiny mona arrived to us in a cardboard box, collapsed in a heap and shaking all over.  The man who brought him in said his brother had purchased the monkey that morning and it had been fine, but during the day it had become like this. As we continued to examine the mona, we found that he had a black eye, a wound on his upper lip, was dehydrated and highly disorientated.

A mona of similar size to the young male brought in
We questioned the man further, at which point he changed his story and said he had been like this when his brother made the purchase.  Realising we were going to get no closer to understanding the circumstances we carried the mona to our vet lab where our Vet Assistant, Austin, began trying to work out why the infant was shaking so severely, similarly to an epileptic fit.  We were mentally going through all the possible conditions that may have caused these symptoms.  The moment we took its temperature though we understood.  His temperature was 42˚C (nearly 108˚F). We quickly tried to cool him down,  gently wetting his fur and fanning him.  He was still ‘fitting’, a common side effect to such a high temperature, and we held his hands so he had something to hold on to and so that he felt comforted.  He was making small squeals, not like any normal vocalisation a healthy mona would make, and we could tell he was in a lot of pain.

We managed to get his temperature down to the normal level of 38 ˚C and he started to reduce his shaking while becoming more aware of his surroundings.  Relieved that he was becoming more stable we started to look in to the next stage of treatment.  We made up a sugar/salt solution to begin to combat the dehydration and fed it to him with a syringe.  Sadly, not long after, the mona started taking another turn for the worse, this time in the opposite direction with his temperature dropping.

We quickly gave him a hot water bottle and wrapped him up in blankets.  He was beginning to shake again and his whimpering told us he was still in pain. Pandrillus vet Ainare did everything she could to save him but despite all of our best efforts he passed away.  We were all desperately sad but also at least relieved the poor infant was suffering no longer.  A post-mortem revealed massive trauma to the head, likely due to being hit with something or kicked.  All of the staff of CERCOPAN had tears in their eyes and were disgusted that anyone could do this to an animal.

Later that evening the brother, who had originally purchased the mona turned up at CERCOPAN to ‘collect’ his monkey.  We explained to him the circumstances of his death and that, even if the monkey had survived, it would not have been given back to him under any conditions, as is protocol at CERCOPAN.  We gave him  tour of CERCOPAN and spent a long time explaining to him why monkeys should not be kept as pets, and the legal implications of doing so under Nigerian law.  A sad day for all here, but it made us all more determined than ever to educate people about wildlife and to provide safe haven for all of the monkeys out there that so desperately need our help.

Tags: African Wildlife, Cercopan, environmental education, mona monkey, Nigerian primates, Nigerin Wildlife, Orphan monkey, rehabilitation, Wildlife rescue

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Category: CERCOPAN staff fighting to save rainforest and endanger, CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Environmental education saving endangered primates, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys, love and friendship in monkeys | Date: Oct 10 2009 | By: cercopan

by Amy Baxter, Temporary Office and Finance Manager

CERCOPAN is pleased to announce that we now have two new additions to our monkey residents!  Saved from an uncertain fate, two young putty-nosed guenons, Flexy and Delight, were rescued by staff and brought to our Calabar compound.  We had a tip-off from a secondary school teacher who visited CERCOPAN with his class not long a go.  While he was here we explained to the class why primates shouldn’t be kept as pets and told them that it was even against the law in Nigeria.  After this short visit to our site, he walked past a compound where he could see two young putty-nosed guenons and he immeditely came to CERCOPAN to inform us.  We were very pleased that our educational messages were successfully absorbed and it gives us great hope for the future that we can continue to change the opinions of Nigerian residents!

His information indicated that the owner sold monkeys commercially and so we were even more concerned and determined to rescue the pair and to stop any more trade.  Our Education Assistant, Martina, stopped by the compound on the way to work to investigated the situation further.  She was very concerned upon arrival about the number of ‘area boys’ close by, a group known to be involved in criminal activities and often very dangerous.  She left without entering the compound but could see one putty-nosed guenon from where she stood.  Our bravest lads decided they would all go together to confiscate the putties, feeling strength in numbers was the best pproach on this occasion. They had expected a long debate with the owner to persuade him to give up the pair, but the whole situation turned out to be much easier than expected…….

Vet nurse Austin with Flexy and Delight

The owner knew CERCOPAN and had visited in the past as he loved monkeys.  He recognized Martina immediately and said he had expected to receive a visit from us at some point.  Our staff asked him is he knew keeping monkeys was against the law and he did, as did his wife who had been nagging him to take them to CERCOPAN for some time!  He had planned to go but had become so attached to the pair, that he had been postponing the visit.  He admitted that had previously  traded in monkeys, selling them for about 8000 naira each (approximately ₤30) but had often kept them for a while before selling them to enjoy their company.  When our team had arrived the monkeys were running around the compound, having escaped from their enclosure, but were quite happy to stay around the family home.  They were playing in the trees and climbing on the roof, not a bit disturbed by this large group of people watching their antics.

While arranging the hndover of the monkeys with the owner, we discovered one of them didnt actually belong to him. They had been placed together by the two separate owners to keep each other company.  He was very hesitant to give up the second animal, explaining that the other owner would think he had sold the monkey to make money. The next hour was spent trying to contact the other owner and then negotiating with him and his family. Eventually, our staff finaly talked him into releasing the monkey into our care and Flexy nd delight were brought home to CERCOPAN. They are a friendly and confident pair, even around humans.  So much so that they didn’t even need a travel box on the car journey home, cheerfully clinging to each other and Egu, our head keeper’s, arm.

Now they are waiting at CERCOPAN for their medical tests so they can be moved in to a big group with other puttys.  We have 3 other young puttys and 1 slightly older individual already waiting to move out from quarantine and they will form one big happy group once Flexy and Delight are ready.  They won’t be without their guardian though, making sure they all stay in line; Double Chief, an old male, with be put in charge of the nursery group and will make sure no one misbehaves!

Tags: African Wildlife, Cercopan, Conservation, Orphan monkeys, Primate rehabilitation, putty-nosed guenon

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Category: CERCOPAN staff fighting to save rainforest and endanger, Cercopan, Communities, Conservation, Education, Environmental education saving endangered primates, Monkeys, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Oct 05 2009 | By: cercopan

Usually a trip to Agoi is an anticipated event, often for an exciting occasion when the local community are even more cheerful than usual and their specially brewed, extra ‘hot’ spirit is more readily available.  This trip however, was quite different from those usually encountered.

We had received information that a drill monkey was being kept as a pet within the village.  Our first response was to inform Pandrillus, another primate organisation based in Calabar who specialise in drill monkey and chimpanzee rehabilitation.  Due to their current schedule and as Agoi is so close to our forest site, they asked us if we could go and remove the animal from the situation.  CERCOPAN will never buy an animal, as it encourages people to try to catch them for financial gain, and we try to avoid getting the police involved as it deters people getting in touch to donate animals already in their possession.  In these cases we try to negotiate with the owners and hope to persuade them to give up their animal, making them understand why it’s better for the individual and for them.

Rescued Juvenile Drill monkey     

When we first sent our CERCOPAN representative to see the owner we found it very hard to get our message across.  The owner, did not want to give up the animal.  He said he had paid 4000 naira for the monkey, now a juvenile male named Chris, from a hunter back in January of this year.  He had been caring for it since then and it had been living in a small wooden box constructed from wooden planks at the side of his house.  The box only had some small holes to see out of and soon he would grow far too big for the box, as adult male drills grow to a huge size.

Adult male Drill Monkey

When our first approach was not working, we attempted to negotiate with someone who had the power to sway the owner’s opinion; the local chief of the village.  The chiefs of a village often have the final say in many decisions and solve many disputes involving village residents.  After consulting the chief he spoke to the owner and began to change the owner’s position on the situation.  To begin with the owner still wanted a reward in the form of guaranteed employment.  Again we had to explain that if we agreed to such terms we would continually have this problem in future situations, and inadvertently increase the number of primates removed from the forest when others decided to use them as a means of getting a job.

Eventually he understood our position and we reached an agreement whereby he would receive a certificate stating that he had donated the drill monkey to us.  We left to prepare a certificate and returned, again to a big discussion about the situation.  Luckily we still managed to make him see he was doing the best thing and Chris was handed over in front of a crowd of around 50 people.  In addition to his certificate we presented him with information leaflets about why it is wrong to hunt monkeys and a poster urging people to protect the highly endangered drill monkey.

To make the entire event official, various traditions had to be adhered to.  After the exchange of monkey and certificate, further exchanges had to be made involving kai-kai; the locally brewed spirit that happens to be particularly strong in Agoi.  This isn’t the kind of exchange where each party buys a bottle and the other takes it home to drink leisurely in their own time - this is when both parties buy a bottle and both bottles must be finished by the end of the gathering.  A little speech was made by both sides and then each departed, swaying slightly from side-to-side!

Chris was brought to our Calabar site late the next evening where he remained in our quarantine area overnight and where he had more space than he had been used to before.  He seemed to enjoy it so much that, by the next day, he was so eager to run around more he managed to escape our trained staff and cause havoc around the office.  After destroying several office items, chewing keys off computer keyboards and peeing on important papers, we finally managed to calm him down and return him to a travel box.  After that he was taken to Pandrillus and reunited with those of his kind.  Now he is busy making new friends and learning what it is really like to be a drill monkey!

Tags: African Wildlife, Cercopan, Community Conservation, Drill monkey, Endangered primates, Nigeria, rehabilitation

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Category: CERCOPAN battles illegal loggers, CERCOPAN helping communities in Nigeria, CERCOPAN staff fighting to save rainforest and endanger, CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Communities, Conservation, Education, Environmental education saving endangered primates, Monkeys, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Rain Forests, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Oct 01 2009 | By: cercopan

 The October edition of the CERCOPAN monthly newsletter can be dowloaded from the link below

cerconews-october-2009-edition.pdf

Hope you enjoy it! Look out for the next issue on the 5th November.

Tags: African Wildlife, Cercopan, Community Conservation, Conservation, Endangered monkeys, environmental education, Guenons, Mangabeys, Newletter, rehabilitation

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Category: Monkeys, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Rain Forests, Saving endangered monkeys, ecotourism | Date: Sep 03 2009 | By: cercopan

Hi everyone, Zena here. Claire has been having difficulties signing on to the site (slow connection….!) so here I am. Over here in the UK I have been going through a lot of our video footage and putting together a few short films for youtube to publicize what we do - nothing like a moving image to give you a sense of what things are like for the team out in Nigeria! The latest one is the story of moving our first rescued mangabeys to the forest enclosure at rhoko (Sagan talked about this group and the research we are doing in an earlier blog - this is our future release group, and the focus of Sagan’s PhD next year).

Clyde checking on the rest of the tightly clumped group as he plays the ‘rearguard’ role

Four years later they are doing incredibly well in the 1 hectare forest environment, and the original 18 individuals have grown to over 40. Research carried out since the first day of their introduction ‘back to the forest’ indicates there little difference behaviourly between those born inside the forest enclosure and those wild born - a good indication for a successful reintroduction!

Matriarch Odudu enjoys some grooming from low ranking Banja, deep inside the enclosure

Other videos recently uploaded also include one on our released mona monkeys, ecotourism and one of our first world environment day parades. You can see these on the CERCOPANHQ channel. Enjoy!

Tags: rainforest ecotourism, reintroduction, rescued orphan monkeys

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Category: CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Monkeys, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Aug 22 2009 | By: cercopan

Exactly a week ago, CERCOPAN staff rescued an as yet un-named infant putty nosed monkey female (see previous blog) with a seriously injured left hand.  In only a week, this young monkey has transformed from a traumatized little girl, into a confident and adventurous individual!  Not wanting to encourage too much movement of her hand she stays in a travel box most of the day, but does come out for play sessions around the volunteer office and living room, stopping occasionally to rest on the back of one of our chairs (see picture below). 

Truly a character, this monkey knows no fear!  She leaps around so happy to be free! Climbing everywhere and trying to use her broken hand.  She is also very vocal, and makes it known to me frequently when I am not paying her enough attention.  Enjoying the reassurance that my arms provide, she jumps into my chest every time something scares her or I call her back from a dangerous feat!  I can tell already, her progress is going to be interesting, and we will surely keep everyone posted!  Thanks to all for helping to support CERCOPAN, because of people like you we are able to take care of little monkeys like her. 

Tags: Cercopan, Conservation, Nigeria, Orphan monkeys, putty-nosed guenon, rehabilitation

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Category: CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Conservation, Monkeys, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Aug 18 2009 | By: cercopan

Fantasic news…thanks to our wonderful readers out there, we only have $1182 left to raise towards our rent!!! Recent donations from Kathy S, Kevin C, James M, Brenton H, Mark H, Ji-in L, Harry V, James M, Julie T, Jennifer S, Wanda H and Christine C have brought us so close to our target and there are still 14 days to go. When we started this appeal with $3333 to raise in little over a month, it seemed almost impossible…..but now we are almost 2/3 of the way there. Thanks very much from everyone at CERCOPAN for getting us here.

For all of you wishing to help our cause, you can now also support CERCOPAN by using ‘everyclick’ as your search engine. Simply add everyclick to your favourites or as your home page (http://www.everyclick.com/cercopan) and then each search you undertake raises money for our organisation. Even if you only search a couple of times a day every click counts.  Encourage your friends to participate too!

Little Ema eating orange

Tags: African Wildlife, Cercopan, Conservation, Monkeys, Nigeria, Orpahan baby monkeys, rehabilitation

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Category: CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Conservation, Monkeys, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: cercopan

So many of you have contacted me asking how the appeal is going and how much we have left to raise. Although there is still a way to go, I am happy to tell you that thanks to the generosity of Wildlife direct readers…. we now have $1395 of the $3333 we must find in order to pay our rent by September 1st! We are almost half way there and it really is down to all of you…your help could not have come at a better time.

Once again, I must say a huge thank you to everyone who has given their support so far and to Jennifer S, Karen M, Kristine K, Brigitta S, Carol Z, Mary H all of whom have recently given to our appeal. Every donation brings us closer to our target and we are really starting to feel like we may get there in time!

For those of you following Ikom and Okon’s progress, I also have fantastic news! Both babies returned to their groups today in full health. As you can see below..they are already fitting back in very nicely with their families

Okon being groomed moments after entering the group

Austin and Joshua opening the encosure to return Ikom to his family

Ikom clearly relaxed back with his friends

Tags: African Wildlife, baby monkeys, Cercopan, Monkey appeal, Nigerian wildlife, Orphan monkeys, rehabilitation, Wildlife rescue

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Category: CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Conservation, Cute rare baby otter, Monkeys, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys, Uncategorized | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: cercopan

Eve the otter, adorable monkey and other CERCOPAN merchandise now available at http://www.cafepress.com/cercopan .
Great as gifts, even better for yourself! All proceeds go towards helping the animals in our care.

melody-the-mona-baby-t-shirt

pink-eve-the-otter-tshirt

Tags: African Wildlife, Baby Otter, Cercopan, CLAWLESS OTTER, MONKEY GIFTS, Nigerian wildlife, ORPHAN ANIMALS, rehabilitation

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Category: CERCOPAN staff fighting to save rainforest and endanger, CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Monkeys, Nigeria, Orphaned baby monkeys, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Aug 01 2009 | By: cercopan

After losing lovable mona Scoopy only a day ago, baby Mona’s Ikom and Okon have now fallen sick with the same condition. My heart sank when Austin our veterinary assistant came into the office to relay the news. I ran out to their enclosures heart pounding, half expecting to find them in the same state I found Scoop. To my relief, they were still moving around and although clearly unwell, I knew they had a chance.  

We immediately removed the babies from the enclosure, administered drugs and put them together in a huge travel box in the vet lab with a hot water bottle and plenty of comfort food. The illness they have is a syndrome which appears to be particular to monas. As this species is rare in captivity, no-one really knows very much about them at all. Whilst we are not yet  sure what causes it, we have some theories and have experts around the world helping us to figure it out. We also now have a committment from Cambridge Veterinary School to help us find an answer.

We originally thought that the problem may be nutritional, some tiny trace element that may be missing from the diet.  Rainforests provide an enormous variety of leaves and insects which are impossible to replicate in captivity, but we really do try our very best. The monkeys in our care are given over 60 different types of food; including fruit, fish, seeds, nuts, boiled eggs, rice and beans, special leaves collected by staff and our own invention ’monkey cake’, which is packed full of nutritional ingredients such as eggs, oats and crayfish. 

Ikom and Okon will now be cared for by our volunteers night and day and will be showered with all of the care and attention we can possibly offer. Mona’s when they are sick crave lots of TLC and the more they have, the quicker they seem to recover! Whenever Im sick, I feel the same and like a bit of sympathy so I know where they are coming from!

I will keep you all posted on any news as it happens…

Baby mona’s Ikon and Ikom comforting one another  in their travel box

Tags: African Wildlife, Cercopan, Cercopithecus mona, Cute baby monkeys, mona guenon, Nigerian wildlife, Orphan monkeys, rehabilitation

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