Category: Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 18 2008 | By: admin

On behalf of everyone at the Trust (and every monkey in Diani) I would like thank everyone who has donated to us through Wildlife Direct. We are now confident that if this kind support continues we will be able to continue our road to recovery. Below we have named our most recent donors. So, a big thank you to:

Kathy S
Mollie G
Sherri S
Timothy M
Theresa S
Katie M
Maria Adelaide A
Muriel T

With your support we are able to be there for monkeys like the little Sykes we received at the end of last week. Concerned residents brought us this monkey from just outside the Shimba Hills NR. Where they saw it being mistreated by some children.

The individual in question was an extremely sweet young male Sykes Monkey. Luckily when he was brought to us, apart from being a bit skinny and very tired, the only problem he had was a bad case of the hiccups! This soon cleared up after a nice meal of milk and glucose and the little guy was soon fast asleep hanging on to his surrogate mother, a towel. In the wild infants of his age are still carried everywhere by their mother. Unfortunately due to the situation of his origins we knew that, if still alive, his mother would be impossible to find. This put a release into his troop out of the question. So this, and the fact that he would not be accepted into another wild troop due to his gender, left us in a pickle.

Thankfully Kerstin, a local Tiwi Beach resident, was on hand to save the day. She has raised many monkeys, with similar troubles, and introduced them to her resident troop of Vervet & Sykes Monkeys at her home. These are a welcoming collection of monkeys who’ve taken in many homeless monkeys such as ours. For this we also owe a massive thank you to Kerstin and look forward to updating you on the progress of this lucky monkey.

Keep up the support!

Gwili

4 responses so far

Category: Human - Primate Conflict Resolution | Date: Feb 11 2008 | By: admin

We have worked with The Kenya Power & Lighting Company to reduce the number of primates lost by electrocutions for many years now. Initially our work involved coordinating with them to trim back the trees around all the major power lines in Diani. This has reduced the numbers, but many are still lost. In the last three years we have lost 12% of the Diani Forest Colobus population.

A dead Colobus found in Diani.

Though we do what we can through our ongoing Tree Trimming Program, responding to an electrocution call is an all to frequent event for the Trust. The smell of burnt hair is pungent and the suffering these monkeys go through is terrible. The impact of 22,000 Volts is devastating. The animal’s flesh at the point of contact instantly cooks. This usually means any survivors we find lose the use of at least one of their forelimbs. Colobus can live with only one arm, and there are several in Diani we have treated and released, but they can never be the monkey they were before. An adult male Colobus amputee has never been seen as the leader of a troop, something every male aspires to be.

A dead Colobus showing steriotypical burns on the forearms and face.

Unfortunately many lose more than one limb and these cannot survive in the wild. This is even more depressing though as the majority of cases are dead on arrival. It is horrible witnessing these needless deaths, and long have we known that a longer-term solution had to be found.

A young male Colobus who’s forearm was amputated due to excessive burning.

Thankfully, during this tough time, it would appear that we have found a breakthrough! In January KLPC sent a team to us, with the intent purpose of trying to solve the problem in Diani. We took them to our 17 already identified Electrocution Hotspots in Diani & explained the situation.

When we received a letter from them this week. It was greeted with great anticipation. Inside was a proposal for the isolation of all the power lines at our hotspots that were publicly owned. This would be a great start towards the total annihilation of the problem.

KPLC have offered to supply the manpower as long as we can raise the funds to pay for the materials. This is a whopping KSh 950,000 (US$ 13,500), a figure way out of our budget, even before the economic crisis, we are currently in, arose. Don’t let this stop us. Through your support we can get the Trust out of these difficult times and work towards raising this amount and achieve this massive leap in the right direction.

Yours willingly,

The Colobus Team

16 responses so far

Category: Blogroll | Date: Feb 08 2008 | By: admin

Before we start with our update we would like to take a moment to thank, on behalf of the Trust, our supporters. Since we appealed to you last week we have received donations from several generous people. Thank you so much to those of you who donated. It looks now as if we are in safe waters for at least the next month!

The last week has been a very busy one, for all at the trust. We started the week with a crisis meeting. This was attended by all members of staff, our two remaining volunteers and two of our directors (see picture below). We discussed everyones thoughts and suggestions for the future of the trust. As well as evaluating our current programmes and how we can cut costs.

The descisions made in, and since, this meeting have been set in to action over the last week and we are all getting used to working on an even tighter budget. However, despite these changes, we have continued our hard work. We have continued our normal work such as the maintainance of our colobridges. As well as addressing the new situations that constantly arise in our line of work.

Some of you may remember a story about two dead Colobus we recieved in December. The two were reported to us as being found dead. This was rather strange as both Colobus looked in the best health. We suspected it as poisoning and took the available measures to find out what really happened. This week we finally received the results for the stomach toxin analysis undertaken by the Governement Chemist in Mombasa. As we suspected there was a positive result found. A component of numerous insecticides, called a Carbamate Group, was found in abundance in the stomach contents we sent them.

We are now looking into how this substance came to be included in the deit of an arboreal forager.

As well as this, work was ongoing with KPLC (the Kenya Power & Lighting Corportation) to reduce the numbers of Colobus lost through electrocutions. This relationship looks promising. KPLC are currently forming a plan of approach and we look forward to a progressive future with them.

Remember, without your help we cannot survive for more than a month with the money we have. Please, help us by keeping up the support, both financially and morally, and together we can secure a future for this special forest & its inhabitatants.

Thank you,

Gwili Gibbon

2 responses so far

Category: Blogroll | Date: Feb 01 2008 | By: admin

TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS AND WELL WISHERS,

In May last year the Colobus Trust reached out to you for a helping hand to enable us to overcome one of its worst crises since conception in 1996. You gave generously and helped us through this difficult time.

We are in the midst of a new crisis. And we have to reach out to you, our dear supporters, again, for help.

The current political crisis in Kenya has hit us hard. The Colobus Trust is apolitical and caught in the cross fire witnessing, firsthand, the collapse of tourism in Kenya. The trust depends on overseas volunteers as the backbone funding of our work. With visiting tourists who come to us for eco-tours as our secondary. The month of February was to be our busiest time. As well as expecting the busiest time for eco-tour we had 14 volunteers due over the month. Unfortunately, within the last month every one of these have had, or chosen to, cancelled their trip. Along with numerous cancellations and early departures during the last month, this has left us stranded. Even money we had already received in the form of deposits has had to be returned.

This is usually our most financially productive time of year. Now the Colobus Trust is faced with the reality that unless we receive funding soon, we will not survive. As well as volunteers the trust relies on our 12 local staff for their expertise, dedication and hard work. It is due to them giving us their all, in this time of need, that we can survive.

We need help desperately. The trusts future is in jeopardy, along with that of its staff. Money will allow us to continue our work and pay our staff, who have stuck with us throughout.

During an average year at The Colobus Trust we:

v Provide veterinary treatment care for 115 primate casualties of human / wildlife conflict.

v Prepare 1095 meals for the ex-pet monkeys in rehabilitation at the Trust.

v Trim back overhanging vegetation from 18,595 metres of un-insulated power lines, to prevent monkeys from being electrocuted and work hand in hand with The Kenya Power and Lighting Corporation with the aim of insulating these lines.

v Spend 52 days building and maintaining monkey bridges to allow monkeys to cross busy Diani Beach road in safety.

v Collect 300 illegally set mammal-snares from areas of forest and bush.

v Educate 1058 school children during activity-filled, all-day environmental workshops.

v Work on a daily basis with local community groups on a range of issues including; habitat protection; support for local environmental initiatives; support for wood carvers working with sustainably produced timber; primate pest management, and much more.

v Conduct 2250 eco-tours of the Colobus Trust plot for Kenyan and international visitors, to educate them about the importance and value of Diani’s wildlife. Another source

These activities have formed the basis of our efforts to ensure the survival of Diani’s amazing primates and beautiful forest. Please help us be there for Colobus such as Toto (below), the youngest member of our resident troop, and the myriad of other creatures that call Diani Forest home.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

· Donate directly through Wildlife Direct.

· Encourage volunteer organisations working in your country to send us volunteers if the situation permits.

· Encourage your friends visiting Kenya to come and visit us.

· Visit our website and see how else you can support us (www.colobustrust.org)

We are currently relying on money raised at our recent fundraiser, thanks to everyone again! But, this money is running out fast so please, please dig deep and make a difference.

Gratefully yours,

The Colobus Management Team

5 responses so far