Colobus Trust

Category: Blogroll | Date: Jun 25 2008 | By: colobus

Hi! I’m Claire, and I’m a 9-year-old volunteer at the Colobus Trust. I am from Seattle, Washington, in the U.S.A. It is an amazing and beautiful place here, with monkeys everywhere! A troop of nine Colobus monkeys roam around these grounds. Tumaini, born in April (the baby Colobus monkey) is acting so grown up (or at least trying to) but is still so tiny and cute!

Yesterday, 15 kids from Magutu Primary School came to learn about the Colobus Trust and what they do. I think they learned a lot and I learned a lot too! Afterwards we played on the beach and that was fun too (I think it was the most fun
part)!

My favorite place here is the beach with white sand, palm trees, crabs crawling all around, and the beautiful warm water. Me
and my dad love to jump in the big waves.

If you ever come to Diani, COME HERE AND HELP SAVE THE COLOBUS MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out our family photos on the Flickr Colobus Trust photo group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/colobus/

2 responses so far

Category: Blogroll | Date: Jun 09 2008 | By: colobus

Today I’m in Diani Beach for a week now and the first week of working at the Trust has passed very quickly. I will give a short impression of the Trust and my first week of volunteering, after introducing myself.
My name is Egbert Jager, 24 years old and I am a student from Nijmegen, a place in the east of Holland. After graduating my BSc of communication science I would liked to do something different, going traveling and experience other countries and cultures. Since my first time in Kenya I really liked to come back once to stay for a longer time. It was terrible to see what happened after the elections in December, I couldn’t believe a crisis like that could arise in a country with such a nice people. Because of the crisis I doubted if it was safe to come over. I’m happy that I decided to go and find here a challenge working as a volunteer at the Trust. They really can use some support, since there haven’t been that many volunteers anymore during the crisis.
I came here last week with little knowledge of the work or experience with animal welfare. After an introduction of the activities of the Trust I found out their mission, not being a relief for monkeys only. They do a lot more which I really appreciated!

The first day of my stay I have helped John with animal welfare. In the beginning it was strange standing in the cages and feeding the vervets, while they are jumping around. But now I’m used to it and I really enjoy doing it. The second day I have seen my first Colobus. In the garden of the Trust lives a group of approximately 8 Colobus. These animals are so beautiful!
Other projects I have been working on is desnaring. Crossing the bushes like a bushman was sometimes very hard and warm. But I have a lot of fun with the casuals who started to practice the German language with me. Besides that you know it’s a good activity after finding a snare! Another good activity I joined is tree trimming. Fortunately I haven’t seen an electrocuted monkey till now. Yesterday I have been monitoring the Colobus Monkeys in the surrounding of Diani. I loved walking in the forest enjoying the nature and the Colobus Monkeys we have been looking after.
In the coming two weeks I will also work on the education projects. I’m looking forward to visit the schools and say hello to the children…

Egbert Jager
Eco-Volunteer

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Category: Blogroll | Date: Jun 07 2008 | By: colobus

In 2005 i graduated with BSc honours in Zoology at Glasgow University in Scotland. During my student years I took part in one of the university expeditions to Ecuador and I helped organize another to Bolivia. While there I studied an array of animals from tropical birds in the Andes and the Amazon to leaf cutter ants, bats and, most inspiring of all, primates. In 2007 I started my MSc in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes and the course has been able to award me with essential skills needed for a future career in conservation, such as; Primate Diversity and Biogeography (eg threats to primates, taxonomy, systematics, speciation, ecology, behaviour, biodiversity, habitat protection), Human Wildlife Conflict Issues (eg hunting, pest control, eco-tourism, economic pressures on forests, design and management of reserves and parks), Environmental Education (eg philosophy - the relationship of awareness to action, planning and practice)
Primate Conservations Genetics (eg DNA sequencing, studbooks, minimal viable populations), Research Methods in Primate Conservation (eg behavioural sampling, surveys, statistics, generating funding, museum studies) and Captive Management (eg enclosure design, breeding, display, rehabilitation).
I am now volunteering at The Colobus Trust while I complete my research on Galagos. While I am here I hope to use these skills I have gained and share my knowledge with those at the trust to help conserve the four species of primates found in this area. I also hope to gain vital experience from the staff here which I am sure I will. I have already learnt so much from them and been able to use my skills I have learnt through out the year while helping with the rehabilitation and captive management side of things, and hopefully my input here won’t go unnoticed.

Helen Simmons
Colobologist

3 responses so far