animal protection & environmental sanctuary

Next it's the babies turn, by this time it is nearly six. They get ideal milk and fruit and vegetables that have been prepared before-hand. While they are drinking their milk I clean and disinfect their sleeping quarters.

If the wild troop arrived the evening before I have to rush around and get their feeding station sorted out. They are given bread while I prepare their fruit and veg. If lady Minky decided to sleep in her indoor 'flat' she has her tea as well - she then lets herself out to mix with the common lot. (Minky was bought from a street vendor at 7 months old and is completely humanised. She mixes well with the wild troop but has not been able to 'unlearn' her human ways and leads a somewhat 'in between' existence)

I then prepare the food for the troop for the day - the inmates and the wild troop. This consists of the following procedure. The fruit and veg is selected and washed, cut up and divided between the various feeding dishes - immediate meals, lunch and late afternoon meals. Each group then gets their morning meal. The wild ones feed on the one enclosure roof which enables them to have contact with the babies that are still in an enclosure and to get to know the 'new ones', which all helps with later integration. By this time it is 7 and time for me to get ready and leave for work.

Khela takes over when I leave. He cleans the enclosures, removes old food and cleans the area with antiseptic spray which also helps keep the flies at bay. Khela also puts out fresh water two or three times a day, cleans and fills the babies 'swimming pool' and cuts fresh branches for the enclosure for the babies and 'lame & lazy'. To clear up a point - the 'lame & lazy' are the unreleasables - monkeys that cannot be let out at all because of their disabilities. Their enclosures border the acre of natural bush and are large enough with sufficient branches, toys, grass and soil so the inmates don't get bored and can forage for grubs and insects if they are capable. Khela also keeps an eye on the monkeys who are out of the enclosures - not that he follows them around but remember, they are not yet adults and can easily get into problems. They spend most of their time in the acre of natural bush. One very important issue is that Khela has to watch out in case there are any disasters - fights with the wild ones or injuries. We are very fortunate to have a very caring neighbour, Gloria Stowell and her family, who are always available to cart the injured off to the vet if necessary. Khela then cleans the enclosures again in the mid afternoon.

When Rod and I get back at 5, I take over the monkey duties and by this time they have had their last prepared meals. The babies however are fed every 4 hours with fresh food and milk as well as vitamins with their morning meal. As they get older their milk intake is cut down and eventually stopped all together. It is always a delight when the babies are able to drink by themselves and it does help tremendously with the workload. (During this time when they have 4 meals a day I have to take them to work with me where they also have an enclosure). The babies have their last milk and 'snacks' of bread or biscuits and are rounded up at around 6 in the evening and closed up in their sleeping quarters which are lined with paper and a bed of towels and blankets. When they are tiny they still need the security and safety of being shielded and they sleep in a bundle, clutching each other for added security. Only when they are about six or seven months can they sleep out on a perch or ledge if they wish to.

By this time all the others are heading for their night roosts. If Minky decides to spend the night indoors she arrives as it gets dark and spends a short time on my lap watching TV and then she is popped into her 'flat' for the night.

Now it's suppertime for the humans of the household.

The resident troop size varies as does the number of babies but our average food consumption is as follows;

A day in the life . .

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