Do you know someone who has a passion for primates or animals that you need to buy a last minute gift for this Christmas?

We are looking for people to help donate money towards a new enclosure for this year’s orphans to be built in 2010. They are currently in a smaller enclosure whilst they are growing up, but eventually we need somewhere bigger for them to live their lives as naturally as possible whilst we form a troop.

If you donate either £10, R120, $15, or more towards this enclosure as a gift for a friend at Christmas, in return, you or your friend will receive a Christmas e-card on Christmas Day with an optional amount donated towards the enclosure. the e-card also includes a mini 8 slide photo show of this year’s orphans.

If you would like to help, please go to our click to donate button on our website www.vervet.za.org and select an amount you would like to contribute. Please then e-mail josie@vervet.za.org to say it is for the Christmas Appeal and give the name & e-mail of the person you would like the card sent to and who it is from with any special message. Please let us know if you would like the card sent on a different day or if you wish for it to be for another occasion please let us know.

Remember the orphaned vervets this Christmas  - they deserve the best life we can offer them after the trauma they have been through.

Meet the orphans below...

Precious – was brought to us only 2 days old with her umbilical cord still attached. She was very dehydrated and thin, we never thought she would make it but with the 24 care from our dedicated volunteers Jess & Brittney, she pulled through and is now strong and healthy.

Mamba  - He was found by an employee of an engineering works in an industrial area. Full of life and energy is the oldest, cheekiest and most playful of the bunch. He loves to swing and is becoming a real monkey and quite a handful to look after!

Ash – his mother was knocked down by a car. he is a premature baby who had signs of jaundice when he came in, didn’t drink very well and also had severe itching at night. After round the clock care and treatment he is now doing very well and playing with the other monkeys. Although still small and needy, he is very confident with the others and balances well.

Forest Gump – He was confiscated by a local vet from someone who thought they could keep him as a pet in a nappy. Although a little mentally challenged and slight lack of co-ordination, this orphan is quite independent although it’s obvious he has some mental impairment by the way he walks. He also has pink fingers. Nonetheless, he drinks well, looks content and is now enjoying the company of Ash. The two of them are becoming good friends and forming close bonds.

Hoppy – (a 2 yr old) is their 1 legged companion. He was brought to the SPCA after being found in a train coal bunker. He only has 1 leg as opposed to 2 and also a scar down his back. His teeth are very worn down and we suspect he had been abused. He is very fond of Precious and protects her by giving her lots of cuddles.

Look out for Hoppy in our adoptions coming soon...

Thank you to all our volunteers this season, we have been short on volunteers so everyone has been working really hard with long hours, the rewards are seeing the orphans grow and become real monkeys knowing we have provided them with a life they may never have had.

A special thank you to Jess, Brittney, Jennifer, Natalie & Helen who offered to look after our orphans on a more regular basis. Jess also made the orphans some great natural enrichment fixtures.

Aubrey Torralba – donation of syringes & needles
Pautie Peeters – box of bandages
Chris Auty – box of pens
Helen Sunter – tub of babymilk
Animal Medical Care Foundation donated a package of supplies as below

Over the past two months my life has changed dramatically. I went from being a student and waiting tables to being responsible for the well being of the thirty monkeys in Sick Bay. In the beginning of my stay I would occasionally work in the Sick Bay area and eventually got very attached to a handful of monkeys there. I asked if I could work there more often and ended up falling in love with every Vervet there. At this point I could name each one and tell you whether or not they preferred beetroot or onion in their snacks. Every monkey I have met here has their own special personalities and you learn to love them all.

One of the privileges of focusing in one area is how personal you get with all of the Vervets.

Another special moment was watching Hoppy’s release into Disneyland. Hoppy came here with only 1 leg, a terrible scar on his back, and very weak teeth.  He was found in a train and that’s all we know.  Hoppy was part of Sick Bay’s responsibility in the new arrivals area so of course I got to know him pretty well. We started off taking care of him in a smaller cage until his enclosure was finished being cemented.  At first he was very frightened of everything. He would hide in the corner when you changed his water and wouldn’t even take a piece of banana from you until you walked away.  Once his enclosure was all set up we rushed down to Sick Bay to watch him go into his new home. Now he’s running and climbing all around his enclosure and instead of hiding when food comes he’s more than ready at the end of the door quite happily to accept his lunch.

I also enjoyed seeing Elf in his new home with Thandi and Armstrong and also seeing Leanie in her new home in Sick Bay Enclosure. Both were inside Sick Bay and had their own personal battles with illnesses. They now have overcome it and have been released back with their old families.

Later on in my stay, the VMF was given two beautiful fragile orphans who had both lost their mothers. We have a little boy Mamba and a little girl Precious both who I have gotten to know very well.  At first Precious was very weak and was put on 24 hour watch whom me and my roommate Jess were responsible for.  We rotated every four hours and tried to give her as much babymilk, rehydration water, and comfort she needed to get back on her little feet. Sooner rather than later she started to perk up. Instead of Mamba wrestling her she is now wrestling him and has done a complete 180 turn around. 

Although Mamba was quite healthy to begin with he had a lot of attachment issues; I’m sure losing a mother that young has caused a lot of trauma for him. He constantly had little “episodes” of him screaming, crying, and latching on to whoever was looking after him.  Now after many days and nights of constant care he has gained a lot more confidence. He still will occasionally have an “episode” but the improvement he has made is incredible.

My stay here at the Vervet Monkey Foundation has been an eye opening experience. Instead of worrying about your own personal issues you worry about all of the Vervet’s struggles and how you can improve their quality of life; it is quite humbling. I’m going to miss every monkey and volunteer here like crazy I still don’t know how I’m going to leave. I’m sure there will be plenty of tears involved but I will most definitely come back again. I would also like to give a big thank you to Josie and Dave for an amazing experience and also thank you for trusting me with Sick Bay and the babies.

Love always,
Brittney

Thank you Brittney for all your help with Precious & sickbay, it takes someone truly dedicated to achieve what you have for the vervets.

Helen Sunter, Cameron Wilson, Ashley Harris, Heleen Vollers, Ann Aston, Erinn Acland, Kimberly Su, Michael Kuwong.

Welcome back:
Sophie Clarke

Thank you to Emily Jones for helping with all the vet nurse things during the last few months - have no fear, the poo stick is still here with Sarah & Cameron!

Simon Welner, Sandra Vind, Myrte Coerver, Lianne Paffen, Samantha Schmeets, Lizzie Hamilton, Fiona Thomson, Claire Humes, Mandy SIegel, Dawn Puttock, Alex Anthony, Carolyn Thomas, Trudi-Humphrey Ranking, Teresa Smith, Koen Nederhand, Brittney Chrans, Tim Warrington, Victoria Cole, Michael Temple, Emily Jones, Jessica Dietrich, Natalie Coleman, Rachel Plotnek, Veronique Xantopoulos, Alex Crawford.