CERCOPAN

Category: Cercopan, Communities, Life, Nigeria, Rescued neglected bush dog | Date: Sep 14 2009 | By: cercopan

  As many of you may remember, a few months back we rescued a bush dog, Ticky, from appalling conditions in our host village Iko Esai.  She was found under a broken umbrella in the pouring rain, covered in sores and being home for a vast number of parasites including ticks, fleas and worms.  She was too weak to even stand and we discovered the reason was because she had been removed from her mother before she was ready to finish nursing.  Sylvain, our mona research coordinator, gently carried her back to our camp along the difficult 30 minute bike journey, through flooded rivers and with thunder crashing around our ears.  It was there we began to nurse her back to health and she started her new life as our camp mascot, surrounded by love and care.

Ticky being nursed on her first night at Rhoko Camp, after ger initial rescue 

 In our last ‘rescued dog’ update we announced she was firmly on the road to recovery and we are pleased to say she has now finally reached her destination!   Her patchy fur has fully grown back and all her wounds are healed.  She has put on plenty of weight, with a big belly hanging around her spindly little legs!  Her true character is shining through and she is excelling at her guard dog duties, taking her cue from our older camp dog, Simon.  Perhaps her bark isn’t quite as threatening as Simon’s, with its squeaky tones intermingled with low growls, but she is always on the lookout for passers-by.

  Her strength has grown even more and now she runs around camp, following us to our huts and playing with us in the grass.  She still tries to play with our older dog, Simon, but he has decided he’s a bit too old for these games and tries to find a quite spot where he can continue to be a grumpy old man.  I think he also gets jealous, as he’s a big dog and is unable to climb onto anything comfortable like a chair (although he was caught having pushed into Sylvain’s hut and asleep on his bed once)!  Ticky, on the other hand, has found one of our cushioned chairs particularly comfortable, and has become an expert at climbing up various small boxes to get on to it!

Ticky; patch-free and chewing the clothes of our volunteer, Sylvain.

The other week our camp manager, Richard, bought back some tasty treats from the city for our guarding duo in the form of two large bones.  Both are nearly as long as Ticky herself and she struggles to get a good bite with her small mouth.  For some reason though, which ever bone she is gnawing on is not as tasty as the one Simon is chewing, and so she always tries to muscle in on his!  He’s not too pleased about this but is showing more tolerance as the days go by!

Ticky trying to get her little mouth around such a big tasty treat! 

  In addition, we have begun general training with her.  She understands ‘sit’ even if she doesn’t always follow the order, and we are trying to teach her ‘stay’, as she regularly tries to follow us in to the forest.  Our favourite one though, and I think hers is ‘paw’, where she lifts up her paw to shake hands.  Perhaps not as practical as ‘sit’ or ‘stay’, but much cuter and it is becoming a very popular welcome with our visiting tourists!

By Amy Baxter, Mangabey Project Coordinator and temporary Office and Finance Manager

Tags: Cercopan, community, Conservation, Cross River State, dog, Iko Esai, Monkeys, neglected, Nigeria, rescued, volunteers

4 responses so far

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: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 28 2009 | By: cercopan

After almost a month of worry and sleepless nights, we finally raised the $3333 needed to pay our rent on 1st September!!!! Thanks to Wildlife Direct readers, our monkeys have a safe and secure home for another year. 

A huge thank you to all  Wildlife Direct readers who have given their support either via donations or the wonderfully uplifting posts we have received. Special thanks to Paula and the Willdlife Direct team who have been absolutely amazing and also to the anonymous donors on the website. I speak for everyone here when I say that knowing you were all with us every step of the way during this difficult month has made such a difference to us.

We could not have done this without you! I am sure that tonight for the first time in a long while I will sleep easy. I will also be sure to lift my glass to all of you when I celebrate this evening  

Baby Mangabey Pica, one of over 120 monkeys you have helped.

8 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 28 2009 | By: cercopan

by Sam Trull 

Good news from CERCOPAN…after a period of prolonger recovery, Akai, an adult male putty-nosed monkey returned to his group for the first time in almost a year yesterday!  The problem started when the females of his group decided to join together to form a coalition against Akai. This led to his becoming very low ranking in the dominance hierarchy and as a result gave him less access to the highest quality food. Female putty’s can be very tough and unforgiving to males, especially if they want to mate and the male is not interested which seems to be how this situation initially began! His dispute with the females led to a nasty tail wound and a vitamin deficiency. As soon as we noticed that Akai’s health was deteriorating we took the difficult decision to separate him from his group in order to receive treatments, be monitored more closely and be fed up.  

Akai has had many ups and downs throughout the past year of his recovery.  After treating his vitamin deficiency first, CERCOPAN staff were able to focus on his tail wound. Tail wounds are notoriously difficult to treat and often do not heal well… if at all. Akai’s injuries ultimately resulted in four different amputation procedures, before the wound healed perfectly.  Luckily, the treatment and all of the care and attention worked wonders and shortly after he began to turn the corner, although it still took many months for him to recover completely.  Once Akai was fully healed, we began the process of re-introducing him to his group.

When an adult monkey is taken out of their group, they can’t simply just be put straight back in, a gradual re-introduction process must take place in order to avoid as much aggression as possible. About a month ago, Akai was placed in a satellite enclosure next to his group, so they could see each other 24 hours a day and interact, but not actually occupy the same space.  This allowed time for the monkeys to gradually get used to one another again through mesh and also allowed CERCOPAN staff to monitor their behavior and make sure that positive interactions were increasing and aggressive interactions decreasing over time.

Yesterday it was decided that Akai’s behavioral exchanges with his group were going very well and that it was time to try everyone together again.  Luckily, all monkeys have been getting along great and better still  Akai has re-entered the group with a much higher rank than when he left!  We will be sure to keep everyone posted on his progress.  It’s been a long road to recovery for Akai, but after seeing him forage with his friends again, I know that it was well worth the wait.

3 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 25 2009 | By: cercopan

by Sam Trull

One of our most playful, fun-loving, and kind-hearted monkeys died last night.  Regiy was a three year-old putty-nosed monkey living in a group with 4 others.  He was often seen playing with his best friend in the group, Cross, taking turns jumping on each other or swinging on a rope.  One of my favorite monkeys to visit, Regiy always greeted me with a play gesture; turning around sticking his bottom high up in the air and then trying to pull my fingers through his legs so he could wrestle with them.  He would then proceed to pounce up and down on my hand with such intensity, that you would think I was the most fascinating toy he had ever encountered.  After a minute or two of greeting me, he would go back to playing with Cross as monkeys clearly have more fun with other monkeys.    

Regiy

Having arrived at CERCOPAN when just an infant, Regiy’s story is like so many other orphaned monkeys here at CERCOPAN.  His mother was shot a killed for the bush meat trade then he was ripped from her lifeless body and stranded in a market to be sold for a profit.  Even though Regiy’s life was short, he was at least one of the lucky ones.  He has spent the past three years playing, grooming, eating, and sun-bathing amongst other monkeys.

 Regiy with best friend Cross - always insepearable 

Just few minutes ago, I decided to take a walk outside.  I wanted to see how Cross was doing.  I wanted him to know that I too, was sad to see our friend go.  I started walking up to the enclosure and from a distance I could see Cross, next to the wire, sitting by himself.  I instantly felt bad for him as I wondered if he had been bored all morning, having lost his favorite playmate.   Stepping closer to him, we made eye contact and in that moment I think he knew why I was there.  Having placed my fingers next to the wire to say hello, Cross took one more glance at me then turned around.  As he then began to lift his bottom, like a wire was attached from his waist to the sky; I smiled at the hilarity of his posture and of course, I smiled for Regiy.

5 responses so far

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

3 responses so far

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

5 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 17 2009 | By: cercopan

Over the past three months CERCOPAN has rescued two female orphaned putty nosed monkeys.  First Maya (see previous posts) and then Angel and now we have a third infant female putty nosed monkey!  On Saturday, the baby’s ‘owners’ came to CERCOPAN to let us know that not only did they have a monkey, but that she was hurt.  CERCOPAN staff went to their house and left with the scared and injured infant after having educated the family about not having monkeys as pets and that she would be better off with CERCOPAN.  When she arrived at our rehabilitation center in Calabar, I wasn’t sure the extent of her injuries as the hand had been wrapped in cloth.  What was certain though was her traumatized state and the fact that she was in a lot of pain.  After grabbing her up and removing the cloth, it became apparent that her hand was severely mangled and would need surgery.  Luckily, our vet friend Ainare was available to help!  After examination, Ainare realized that not only did the infant have a huge laceration to her left hand, but her pinky finger was dangling by a thread and would need to be removed.  Had this injury waited even another day the little baby would have had a serious life threatening infection which woudl have probably led to the amputation of her entire hand in order to save her life. 

Upon arrival, scared and in pain, the newest orphan was quick to bite and was clearly very stressed.  She moved from anyone who tried to touch her and she screamed in fear.  After surgery and two days of TLC, I am happy to report that as I write this blog, our newest orphan is comfortably sleeping in my lap.  She has spent all morning contact calling and nuzzling into my chest, wanting nothing more than to be loved.  She is enjoying her milk and various fruits and vegetables and getting settled into her new life at CERCOPAN.  Once her hand is healed, she will be introduced to Maya and Angel, sure to be an exciting trio!  Quick action by CERCOPAN staff has not only saved this little girl’s life but we have also given her a future.  

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Category: Cercopan, Cute rare baby otter | Date: Aug 15 2009 | By: cercopan

I am sorry that once again I am the bearer of bad news, but I wanted to let you know that late lastnight we lost Eve the otter after her health suddenly plummented yesterday afternoon. Everyone here is devastated, but at least we know we did our absolute best to help this little one. I feel especially sad for volunteers Sam and Dani who have spent the last 2 1/2 months caring for her day and night. They did an amazing job and gave Eve the best chance she could have had. To lose a baby after so much care and effort is just heartbreaking.

Goodbye Eve…

6 responses so far

Category: CERCOPAN supporters saving rainforests and orphaned mon, Cercopan, Conservation, Monkeys, Nigeria, Saving endangered monkeys | Date: Aug 13 2009 | By: cercopan

Apologies to all of you for not giving an update on our situation for a few days….I know many of you are following our struggle to raise funds and are almost as worried as me about it! Sadly I haven’t been able to spend much time at my computer as I’ve been pretty unwell so have been trying to work on other things that don’t involve staring at a screen! I was hoping it was just a headache or cold, but I am now pretty sure I have malaria, so I will take some drugs today and hopefully be back to my normal self in the next 2 or 3 days …

We received disheartening news yesterday that two further sources of funds that I had been desperately awaiting news on are no longer a possibility for this year. I don’t think there has ever been a more difficult time for small charities to raise operational funds. In this global crisis, multinational companies, banks, foundations and individual donors have all been hit and are these are precisely the avenues we utterly rely on for funds. Im trying to stay hopeful though,  Im sure if we just keep trying every single available option, eventually our hard work and effort will pay off.

We still need to raise i$1742 and there are 20 days left to go. Huge thanks to Mr G, Kathy, Christine, Pirjo, Samantha and Bryony for their support. I can’t emphasise enough how much we all appreciate your efforts. The amount of work it takes to make a project like this run day to day can be exhausting for the volunteers and staff; and a crisis like this only serves to make the days longer and harder. To know that there are people in our corner who really care makes all the difference and your support is invaluable in so many ways. A massive thank you to all of you for everything you are doing!

Some of the CERCOPAN staff posing for a photo on George (our vet interns last day)

Bottom Left: Martina, me, Glory, George, Amy, Sam

Top left: Joshua, Austin, Egu, Richard, Matthew, Etan, Abakum

Tags: , African Wildlife, Appeal, Bushmeat trade, Cercopan, Crisis, Monkeys, Nigeria, rehabilitation

4 responses so far