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Despite the constant extra work we have had put upon us by the illegal clearing of the forest at Baobab Beach Resort I can happily report that the rest of The Colobus Trust’s responsibilities are being carried out as normal! This morning we rescued and relocated a and a half meter long Water Monitor Lizard from Leisure Lodge Hotel, to a more suitable area of thick forest (which is becoming much harder to find in Diani!). Our team responded swiftly with Peter, John (two of our field-staff) and myself responding within 20 minutes of being notified.
Once at the site we collected the animal, which had already been captured by the gardeners. This had been done because it had been terrorising (though we suspect terrifying would be a better word) tourists. We could understand their fears, it was a large and impressive specimen with a formidable temper. But it proved no trouble to us as it had already been captured and we put it in the back of our pick-up (above) ready for its journey. It did however give a terrible fright to the Askari (security guard) at the gate when he inspected our vehicle! We were then left with the job of working out where was best to release it. This was decided on a number of factors. Monitor lizards require a constant terrestrial source of water (more than other animals) and are often persecuted by local peoples (sometimes rightly so, as they often eat chickens) so our local Kayas were out of the question. Luckily though we knew of a large area of thicket within the Diani Forest that would be perfect as it has a near by water source and is of a substantial size.
Once at the location I got my camera ready, whilst John and Peter prepared to release the animal. They made sure they were well out of its path and then opened the cage. Above it can be seen rapidly running off into the forest! After this Peter took a team out to maintain our Colobridges and I have returned to the office to keep you all updated on our work. Hopefully either this afternoon or tomorrow we will have posted an update on the Baobab situation. Gwili Gibbon
1 Comment posted on "Work Continues As Normal, Despite Everything!"
Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL on April 7th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Gwili, great rescue, poor thing was problably just as terrified as these folks were. We need more information on the volunteers needed. What qualifications are needed. Once you put this out, then we can better direct where we put our pleas for help such as universities, etc. Thank you! Post a comment
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The Colobus Trust was established in Diani Beach, Kenya, in 1997 to save the endangered Angolan colobus monkey which was a frequent victim of roadkills. The Trust's trademark is Colobridges - bridges over the roads for save overpass. Gwili, a Welsh volunteer at the Trust reports on the day to day activities in an busy local primate conservation charity 
