Colobus Trust

The Colobus Trust runs a 24 hour hotline which enables local residents and businesses to report any injured, sick or dead monkeys in the area. To the best of their ability the Colobus team then resolves every situation, which may include a Vervet monkey injured at a hotel, a Sykes’ monkey caught in a snare or even a Colobus monkey killed in a road traffic accident.

In this instance, a hotel made a call to let us know that three Colobus monkeys had been electrocuted on the perimeter of their plot. Upon arrival, only two of the three Colobus were still in the area. Unfortunately, one of them was already dead- a large adult male with burns to his hands and feet. Our main concern was now treating the other injured Colobus, an adult female. Catching her was relatively easy compared to other captures due to the injuries on her back legs preventing her from climbing a tree.

Michaela, Andrew and Jody with the Colobus ready to get back to the clinic

Once back at the trust, Andrew, Cara, Jody and Michaela sedated and then examined the Colobus, during which time we discovered that she was heavily pregnant- all the more reason to ensure her successful release back into the wild.

Above: The injury to the Colobus

Below: Treatment being given at the Colobus Trust clinic

Her external wounds (burns to her feet and rump) were treated and multivitamin and tetanus injections were administered. She was then placed in quarantine under observation until she came round from sedation. Later in the day when she was fully alert and able to move adequately, we released her near to the location where she was found.

The Colobus being released by Andrew and Cara

The Colobus trust is working with the Kenya Power and Lighting Company to insulate as many electricity lines as we can fund in order to reduce and even eradicate cases such as these. The public can help us with this by making any donation, large or small, which we would greatly appreciate.

Luckily for this Colobus, and her unborn baby, her encounter with the electricity lines was not fatal- unlike her fellow troop member who lost his life.

Please help now,

The Colobus Team