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It is quite amazing how this year has flown by, perhaps it is because we are getting older or then again it may have something to do with how extremely busy we have been at the Sanctuary, what with rescue calls from S.P.C.A., Durban Metro, various Protection services, members of the public and various other organisations We have also done a number of educational talks to schools, environmental groups, ladies groups, Umghlanga Rotary, etc etc As mentioned in the last Apes Chatter we have also been very involved in the formation of the new primate organisation Primate Care Association and of course as usual this sort of thing takes a great deal of time, patience and diplomacy…. Yours truly is’nt directly involved, but Rodney is their current Chairman, enough said.
Before we go any further, We at A.P.E.S. would like to thank the caring people, both private and companies who have been there in so many ways for the monkeys and us, There are far too many to mention each one by name but we would like to make special mention of our” Rescuers .Kenny , Denise, Bronwyn, Rob, Paddy and Heather who have given so much of their time and have always been there when needed, Thank you so much from the ,monkeys and us all I know we have not been able to save them all but I’m sure WE HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE Please people out there we are desperate for more people who are interested to get involved with the rescue side, it is extremely difficult for these people to carry the whole load. HELP!!.. As mentioned previously if you would like to become a Rescuer PLEASE let us know and we will arrange for Kenny to help with the training, Thank you
There have been a number of call outs not all successful unfortunately. Some of the S.P.C.A”s are trying to assist but on the whole it seems as if time is not of the essence unfortunately. We also are most grateful to Metro Info department for giving out our Helpline and also to the Fire Department who are more than willing to lend a hand when required. Now for some Sanctuary news..
Mimi: It is with a very sad heart I have to report that Mimi one of our human-damaged monkey who has had the freedom that all monkeys should have even though she wasn’t 100% she enjoyed herself being free but last month she disappeared, we searched and searched to no avail. Having to tell Stephnie that she had gone was the most difficult part, Steph’s reaction was very comforting saying that at least Mimi had over two years of freedom and wasn”t confined to a cage but it doesn’t make it any easier
Loo; Is really quite a success story now, he hardly ever goes back into his enclosure and spends most of his time out with our youngsters, in fact he fancy’s himself as a leader…
Kate: was a member of our local wild troop, approximately 8 to 10 months old, she had been rather badly injured. Unfortunately we were unable to catch her for four days, the strange thing was she arrived the same day as Mimi disappeared, well eventually Kehela caught her, she was found lying at the front door of the un-sympathetic neighbour, luckily they were not at home… Because of the time delay in treating her severely wounded leg she contacted Tetinus, Budgie our local vet and his assistant Kate ( hence the name) tried everything possible but Katie died in my arms ten days later, the tragedy was that she seemed to be making great strides even started to put on weight, before her symptoms became evident, It is so heart breaking to lose one of these animals in this manner. We at the Sanctuary can never get used to losing animals.
Gizzmo; Our beloved Gizzy has also disappeared this is a complete mystery and no amount of searching revealed where she was or where she had gone too, we can can only guess, again this is terribly difficult ,not knowing is the worst, especially as she was a very very special monkey with great character
The magnificent 7 The name we have given to our juveniles, they are all doing fantastically even little Charlie and his great friend Georgie, {remember there was some confusion whether he was a she}…. And of course Elliot is still his arrogant self .His best friend seems to be Connie, who is just as unfriendly as he is. Mandy,and Karen are still affectionate as ever and if given half the chance will sneak inside just to get cuddled .Edward, is not too keen on human contact either. I have my doubts if he would ever be a leader as he is quite happy to cruise along with the others, helping out if need be , We are very heart sore to report the death in December of dear Georgie, He was found lying, as if asleep on a branch ,on the morning of the 31st, our first reaction was that he had been poisoned, foam at the mouth, diarrhoea etc, but on closer examination Rodney saw that his pupils were not pin-pricks, {typical of Organo Phosphate poisoning] so the only conclusion is that he possibly died of a snake bite, It seems so unfair to come along so well and then die.Charlie seems to misss his little friend.
Steven: He is the newest member of A.P.E.S. mother was eaten in the Transkei and Peter Raleigh who lives there was handed this little baby by an African chap who said that the mother had been hit by a car,ran away leaving her baby…. Me thinks otherwise, monkey mums do not leave their babies, anyway Steven was duly brought to us. We would like to thank Translux for their assistance, Steve Solomon who was visiting Peter at the time was travelling back by Translux, we contacted their head office in Pretoria asking for permission for the babe to be brought back, and it was given. A big THANK YOU Mr. Steyn and Translux.
It is with delight that we report our local troop have produced five new babies, they are a bit late this year but it is due to the excessive dry weather and late spring rains. Bugs was the first to show off her little one. born mid October the next one was Orphan, Princess, and a new member of the troop, yet unnamed. The biggest surprise was White-eyes the Alpha female, she has’nt had a baby for the last three years and low and behold she arrived with her babe last week, first week of November, So much for the pundits saying monkeys breed every year… all are doing extremely well, touch wood.
There have been a number of rescues but luckily not as many as expected. Unfortunately we have lost a number of pregnant mums, reasons being that due to the drought conditions, shrinking habitat and lack of nutrition, these mums did not have the strength to give birth and unfortunately babies and mums died . I only wish people could see how tragic this is and how distressful it is for the “ would be” rescuers. Not to mention the concerned people that contact us seeking help for these unfortunate creatures
Minky surprised us all on the 13the December…. I went out early to give them their morning feed and noticed her sitting high up in a tree in the early morning light holding a very small black bundle, I thought my eyes were playing tricks, then noticed a very new baby, first thoughts were she had stolen one from a wild mum…. I called her but was rather wary remembering my numerous wounds from her aggression but low and behold she came to me and showed me the little one, of course all the “nannies” were in attendance trying to get a glimpse of the little one or even better have the chance of holding it. Now I realised why she had been so aggressive, she is now back to her old gentle loving self. It was wonderful to see how proud and protective she was of her new baby, I of course rushed off to wake Rod with the news, he couldn’t believe his eyes either and not until Minky had sat on his lap and loved him too, did he believe what he saw. Eventually we discovered that the little one was a male, my maid gave him the name of Sipho which means “present/gift’ in Zulu. Mother and son are doing extremely well. I did however for the first week supplement her milk with Nan 1 giving Sipho a syringe full three times a day, of course mom had to have a syringe full as well! It was heart warming to see that every time it was close to “feeding time” Minky brought Sipho to me. . He has now started on solids and gets very irate with his mum if she doesn’t allow him to help himself. Misty and Amy are her chief helpers it is too comical to see how they compete for the honour of looking after him while his mum has a break .Karen and Mandy are also the younger “nannies’ not quite able to carry Sipho the way he should be carried, so they walk on their back legs trying to carry him, it is very comical to watch. Of course Minky is also very caring in regard to the latest arrivals Vikki, Bongani and Stephen, in fact she is rather a nuisance wanting to come in and take care of them, We try not to encourage her to come back into the house now that she is 90% in the wild environment. Very shortly these three youngsters will be out permanently in the outdoor enclosure and then permanently out in the wild blue yonder.They are becoming a handful already especially Stephen but they are too young yet to cope on their own, even in the out door enclosure. Vikki is very small, actually looks like a two or three week old and is a strange looking mite, we are convinced she looks like a gnome, She does not like to be handled especially by Rodney but will allow me to groom her if she feels like it but she is a very courageous little girl and has the heart of a lion. Her two “brothers” are quite different even Bongani,( who still hasn’t gained the use of his arm) but it doesn’t hinder him at all he climbs jumps and has rough and tumble games with his friends. Stephen is really a character and is madly in love with the dogs especially Vinni our Tibet spaniel I think it has something to do with her long silky coat, he sits on her chatting her up when ever she appears May we take this opportunity to wish everyone a peaceful Christmas, best wishes for 2002 May we be more tolerant to all, especially to the Vervets and the environment. Bless you all. Thanks for caring and for all your support. FROM ALL AT A.P.E.S. |
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