Colobus Trust

Category: Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation | Date: Nov 26 2007 | By: admin

Yesterday we had an animal welfare call at Leisure Lodge for an electrocuted young male Colobus that was still alive. When we arrived he already looked like he was in pretty bad shape, with a visibly injured arm and burnt fur on his face. During the time we were waiting for equipment and extra help to arrive, we had the unfortunate experience of seeing him get electrocuted once more and fall to the ground. It was quite awful, but we wasted no time and moved in quickly to get him while he was still on the ground. We did manage to catch him, but had to face a very large male on the way to the truck, who was very protective and very angry, which was quite scary. We finally got the injured colobus in the truck and brought him back to the Trust, where our vet Sal treated him. He is now in the quarantine cage for observation.

The spot where this electrocution happened had been identified as an electrocution hotspot a few weeks ago, and Kenya Power had been informed. Unfortunately nothing has been done about this yet, which is very frustrating for all of us, as electrocutions will continue to happen as long as nothing is done about the uninsulated power lines.

Isabelle
Colobologist

6 responses so far

Category: Marketing, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation | Date: Nov 22 2007 | By: admin

This week at the Colobus Trust we began preparations for our annual fundraiser, a kite surfing competition, which will be held on December 28th and 29th at Forty Thieves beach bar in Diani. We are going to receive part of the entry fee for the event, and also raise money through raffle tickets. Yesterday some of us went to Mombasa to contact hotels and other businesses and get them to donate prizes for our tombola and get them to support us in other ways too. It went fairly well, and some hotel managers seemed enthusiastic about the idea.

Tuesday was a long day for our volunteer vet Sal. In the morning we picked up a pregnant suni who was having trouble giving birth, and Sal performed a cesarian on it, but unfortunately neither the suni nor the baby could be saved. That same day we received an animal welfare call, which turned out to be a young injured vervet. It was in pretty bad shape and unfortunately had to be euthanised.

There were many other things going on this week, which kept us volunteers quite busy. Every day this week as well as last week we received a group of Gap Year kids from Camp Kenya, and our assistant manager Gwili has been working very hard to accommodate their needs while still trying to show them what we do in terms of conservation work, giving them lectures and taking them out in the field. Yesterday we took them on a Colobus diet analysis at the site of the old Colobus Trust, and we tracked a troop of 8 Colobus and observed them eat for a couple of hours. We hope they enjoyed it, I certainly did.

Isabelle
Colobologist

2 responses so far

Category: Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation | Date: Nov 14 2007 | By: admin

Things have been busy in our Rehabilitation Cages of late. Over the last two years we have built up a collection of mainly ex-pet Vervet Monkeys & we are aiming to release them as soon as we (& they) are ready.

Having been taken from the wild from a very young age, these poor animals find it quite difficult to be monkeys in the way that wild ones do. Luckily two of our volunteers (Neda & Sal) have taken charge of the monumental task of preparing them for release. This has involved not only finding a release site but also creating a troop that will survive in the wild. The difficulty in this lies in the fact that they have had limited social contact for so long. To ready them for release the girls have been introducing the monkeys to each other & studying their responses. This, so far, has gone well. However, next week is the introduction of the two mature females. Their alliance will prove key to the formation of a stable troop.

Let’s hope it goes well and soon we’ll have our very own troop ready to be reintroduced to the wild, which they left long ago.

2 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Nov 03 2007 | By: admin

This is our first blog entry for a while as our old Assistant Manager, Paul, left to further his education leaving us without a knowledgable blogger. But now I have learnt the way of the blog, I can take over. Firstly, however, I would like to introduce myself. I am Gwili, the new Assistant Manager, I have returned to Diani after spending 3 months here, as a Colobologist, in 2004. I come from the UK, have recently completed a degree in Zoology, and arrived here just over a week ago. Since the last time I was here much has changed and much has not. The trust has a lovely new location with much better facilities, but the forest has continued to disappear and the threats of electrocution and the road are still claiming many lives.

Since my arrival a lot has happened. On the positive side we have represented our cause at the Diani Goat Derby, applied for funding for a Colobus Tuk-Tuk and continued the weekly activities (such as the trimming of trees around the power lines) which are so vital to the survival of the wildlife. But as with any story, there are some sad parts. We sadly lost 3 Colobus in one day, two were lost to the power lines and one to what we can only assume was old age, and just this morning we learnt of a house that is to be built on the outskirts of the Mijikenda sacred forest, Kaya Ukunda. This is terrible news as it is exactly where we had started to build a small centre for the guardians of the forest.

But, as ever, we are hopeful. There is much to be done, taught and learnt and through this work we hope we can save this beautiful habitat from disappearing from Diani. Because, lets face it, there are few places where you can stay in such luxury with such that you can enjoy a cold beer in a swimming pool overlooking the reef and watch these amazing monkeys doing the same. That is, if you replace the pool with a baobab tree and the beer with some nice fresh leaves!

Gwili Gibbon
Assistant Manager

One response so far