Colobus Trust

By Fleur Downard, a volunteer at the Colobus Trust from 27 October – 14 November 2008

Part 2 – Recovery and Rehabilitation

The Colobus monkey was very groggy when he woke up from his sedated sleep later in the afternoon.  He looked disorientated but was too weak to look for ways to escape from his cage in the vet clinic.  I felt sorry for him, he looked so sad and his eyes were pleading for a way out of this pain.  I decided to name him Chuma, the Swahili word for metal, to give him strength to overcome his injuries.  He is about 17 years old (which is old in monkey years), a male Angolan Colobus monkey, weighing about 9 kilograms, with black eyes and a cute, slightly lopsided smile due to his injuries.

Dr Allan advised that it would be best to have some x-rays taken of Chuma’s jaw and head so we can check the extent of his injuries.  Chuma was sedated again about a week and a half after the rescue and taken to the local hospital for an x-ray.  The radiologist took an x-ray of his head and his jaw, while Chuma was spreadeagled on the table, oblivious to the doctor, the vet and the Colobus staff fussing over him.  Dr Allan concluded that Chuma indeed had a fractured upper jaw with a possible fracture in the skull, hence we needed to ensure he does not chew so his jaw can heal.

Over the past two and a half weeks I have spent a lot of time with Chuma, talking to him to try to comfort him (in English which of course does not understand) and making a lip-smacking noise, which is how the Colobus monkeys communicate with each other.  He loves eating bouganvillea flowers which we have been hanging in his cage or cooking the flowers with water so it is easier for him to eat with his fractured jaw.  We have also started giving him mashed banana, papaya and watermelon to help give him more strength and nutrition.  Chuma lives in a small cage as he falls over easily and does not have a good sense of balance so we cannot transfer him to a larger cage where he might fall down and injure himself.  We try to make the cage as homely as possible, filling it with leaves and branches to mimic the forest environment he is used to living in.