Colobus Trust

Category: Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Progress report, deforestation, volunteer | Date: Nov 05 2009 | By: colobus

As the rains enter full swing, the staff and volunteers at The Colobus Trust have been working hard to prepare the tree nursery for what is surely one of its busiest seasons. This week, Dougie and John took it upon themselves to start sorting through the various plants and trees which make up the nursery.

Visitors to the Trust are encouraged to purchase a tree which is then nurtured and finally planted in the Diani area as part of the trust’s general conservation work. Unfortunately, as tends to be the case in Kenya, a number of these trees die before they can be planted and it is necessary to continually plant more, in the full knowledge that only a small number of them will survive. Over the past few months, the number of trees in the nursery has fallen dramatically as they struggle to deal with the harsh climate and salted water in Diani.

Despite these problems, all the volunteers have now been involved in this project and the area is looking much better. We all hope that the new nursery will prove to be a hit with visitors and will be more inclined to purchase a tree in the future.

We hope the rains continue year upon year as our trees continue to grow!

Dougie

Eco-Volunteer

Tags: Colobus Trust, diani, Kenya, reforestation, Tree nursery

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Category: Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution | Date: Oct 05 2009 | By: colobus

Once again we have another tragic tale to report: the untimely death of a juvenile Colobus. This time the Colobus was hit and killed instantly by a car on the Diani main road. The car was not speeding; it was just a case of the Colobus deciding to cross the road at the wrong time.

Above: The size and injury to the Colobus is shown

Probably the most shocking aspect of this death, however, was the state that the Colobus was in before it died. Embedded in its abdomen was a snare that had clearly been there for some time. Here is a demonstration that the illegal use of snares in the forests to catch Suni not only affects the Suni but also other fragile species. In order to reduce the frequency of this happening the Colobus Trust regularly carries out de-snaring in the area. Only last week 6 snares were found by Peter in the Jardini forest, just where the Colobus was hit.

Above: The snare embedded in the abdomen

Our thanks to Darren and Emma of Ngiri’s Bar and Restaurant for reporting the incident to the trust.

Let’s hope with our continued work and your generosity we can stop this happening!

Tags: Colobus monkey, Colobus Trust, diani, Kenya, road traffic accident, snares

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Category: Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Marketing, community | Date: Sep 26 2009 | By: colobus

A successful and entertaining evening was held on Saturday 19^th September at Ngiri’s Bar and Restaurant in Diani Beach. The fundraiser was thrown for the South Coast Resident’s Association’s tree planting drive in collaboration with the Colobus Trust. The brilliant band played a top range of music and the atmosphere could not have been better! The “Pig in the Wig” theme lead to a huge array of inventive outfits, with some wigs being made from everyday items such as mops, bin liners, foliage, cotton wool and even toilet paper!

The evening’s entrance fees were donated to the SCRA cause, raising total of 18200Ksh. Additional money was raised by Ngiri’s donating 10% of the money spent on food, as well as one gentleman who managed to raise some funds by selling clothes pegs!

A big thank you to all who came along to show their support for such a deserving cause. We hope to see such a marvelous turnout for the next event!

Tags: Colobus Trust, conservation party, fancy dress, Fundraising, South coast resident's association, tree-planting

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, deforestation, volunteer | Date: Sep 19 2009 | By: colobus

Our peaceful Saturday morning was interrupted by a call on our hotline. Diani Sea Resort was calling to report a dead juvenile Colobus monkey. We knew this wouldn’t be an easy call out, but nothing could quite prepare us for what was waiting at the scene. The juvenile was in fact a very young infant, its death a result of fighting between two troops on the premises. Our animal welfare officer John estimated the infant was around one week old, as its fur was still completely white and the remains of its umbilical cord were still present. The Colobus only carry a single offspring at a time (although a set of twins can occur on very rare occasions) and take four to six years to reach sexual maturity. Therefore to lose an infant after a six month gestation period is a big blow to any Colobus troop, but more so in Diani where the population is dangerously low.

We were told by staff at the resort that intense fighting had occurred the previous day, with visible injuries to some of the adults. It is unclear at what stage and how the infant was killed, but it is likely that the mother continued to carry the infant after its death.

Increasingly fragmented habitats result in increased levels of stress in the species which live in them. Territorial disputes between rival Colobus troops are a natural occurrence; however the forest loss in Diani gives rise to a greater number of conflicts between the troops over the territory that remains.

To try and counter this, the Colobus Trust is working to create forest corridors for the Colobus and other native species to have better mobility between forest fragments.

More on this in another post!

Rob and Cara

Tags: Colobus monkey, Colobus Trust, conflict, diani, forest, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Kenya, Monkey, reforestation, trees

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, community, sustainable | Date: Sep 15 2009 | By: colobus

Staff and volunteers spent a morning in Mwakambe, a small local village, helping out with a community project. The Mwakambe Youth Group consists of 20 members and has two main aims: turning two sections of wasteland that have been abandoned for 20 years into an agro-business and a forest of native trees. Both projects will provide an income for the members of the youth group and their families.

Below: Rob (front right) working with the youth group

A local NGO has agreed to donate fertilizer, seeds and saplings to cultivate plants such as bananas, mangos and vegetables. They have set a deadline for the youth group of 20^th September to clear the land, so when we arrived they were all busy working in order to achieve this. We helped by slashing the long grass (which before they started work covered the majority of the plot) and cutting down small shrubs. The land, once cleared of denser vegetation, is then tilled using jembes. All this in the boiling hot sun means it’s very hard work and resulted in many blisters!

Below: We couldn’t resist documenting our injuries!

We made a visit to the second site where many saplings have already been planted. We helped by bringing water and watering them. The forest, when mature, will provide an ideal local location for ecotourism.

Below: Becky checks the progress of an indigenous sapling

We later joined the local group for some shade under a tree while the chairman explained more about the project and how we can help them. Peter then gave a motivational speech to the group members, as projects such as these can take a long time to come to fruition and can be frustrating for those involved.

The Colobus Trust looks forward to continuing to work alongside the Mwakambe community on this project to help them achieve their goals.

Tags: community, habitat restoration, teamwork

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, deforestation, sustainable, volunteer | Date: Sep 08 2009 | By: colobus

Hi there, I am one of the new volunteers at the trust and my first week has certainly been busy. Spending only a week here has shown me just how diverse and important the work of The Colobus Trust is.

So far I have been involved in a variety of the many projects that the trust carries out to ensure that the endangered Colobus monkeys have a future. These projects have ranged from climbing trees to mend the damaged Colobridges or being called out to search for an injured colobus or walking through the ever depleting forest to search for native saplings to add to the unique Colobus Corridor – this will hopefully develop corridors of forest in between the forest patches so Colobus have areas to move safely in.

Polly watering the saplings collected

As I am a qualified teacher, I have also become interested in the environmental education work that the Colobus Trust carries out and with the help of Hamisi I hope to begin a new programme after the long school holidays. I will keep you updated on this!

In just a week I have realised the hard work that the Colobus Trust has ahead of it but I do believe with continued hard work from the staff and support from volunteers it is possible.

Polly

Volunteer

Tags: Education, reforestation, Volunteer update

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, deforestation, good wood, volunteer | Date: Sep 02 2009 | By: colobus

It began as a mere suggestion to create a nature trail involving eco-friendly hotels, through which visitors could get enriched with information regarding the Colobus monkey as they enjoyed a nature walk. The Nomads hotel, which still has a very rich forest patch in their premises, joined hands with the Colobus Trust not only to talk the walk but also to walk the talk of conserving the environment. The planning and implementation of this marvelous idea took four days.

Above: Peter talks about the forest

This walk begins at the Nomads reception desk where one receives a warm welcome and gets guided professionally through the trail. During the walk one gets to see and learn about indigenous trees over a century old and most importantly come across the precious, almost extinct, Colobus monkeys. For bird lovers, this is the perfect place as well as a haven for other creatures such as millipedes (almost a foot long) and forest rodents. One gets furnished with information regarding primates, medicinal herbs and the coral forest.

Above: an example of the tree labeling on the trail

This project will enhance knowledge and also appreciation of the unique flora and fauna of the visitors together with the residents. If we keep cutting trees and building more concrete structures, where will all the greens go? Where will we have nature walks and where will be the nature itself? Let’s join hands in this noble task of ensuring that we conserve our environment. How we conserve our environment today determines our future!

Thank you for visiting the Colobus blog!!

Peter

Field Officer

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Category: Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, deforestation, volunteer | Date: Aug 18 2009 | By: colobus

 Capture

Peter, Sarah, Sam and Tom went to the location where the report of an injured Vervet monkey was reported. After looking around the grounds it seemed that a capture would be unsuccessful today. Either way, the gentleman who reported the incident offered them drinks for their troubles…… Then what do you know? The monkey arrives! The capture was a relatively easy one which involved luring the monkey into the cage with fruit! Once it was trapped, it was sedated and brought into the clinic.

Treatment

Claire, Peter and Jody assessed the monkey on arrival. On examination, there were wounds visible on both arms and a major wound on the back of the right hand. All wounds were cleaned thoroughly by the team and Jody sutured the hand wound with dissolvable stitches. Claire gave antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and Tetanus injections intramuscularly. Iodine was applied to all wounds and the monkey was placed back in the cage to come round fully under observation. Once the monkey was awake water and food were then offered.

After Care

Following the procedure, antibiotic injections were given for another day and the monkey’s progress was monitored.

Release

24 hours after the procedure, the monkey was taken back the location where it was captured. Here, he was released successfully and roamed his natural environment back where he belongs!

All in all, it was a positive outcome for the monkey and team!

www.colobustrust.org

Tags: primate rescue, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Veterinary clinic, volunteer

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Category: Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Research, deforestation | Date: Aug 06 2009 | By: colobus

 Recently Colobus trust wrote about finding a new hybrid species. This was believed to be a mix of vervet and sykes monkeys. The picture we posted belonged to Yvonne A. de Jong & Thomas M. Butynski, since then the Colobus Trust team has been out on a number of occasions trying to learn more about these creatures. 

When I first heard about these animals, to be honest, I didn’t believe it. Normally sykes and vervets don’t like to interact very much.  Opposed to Colobus who do not eat the same foods, these animals do have a lot of competition for food. It is not unusual that they would live in the same area. But for them to be in such close proximity to one another that mating begins to take place is a sign of something. I believe this has something to do with the loss of natural habitat in Diani putting these animals in much closer proximity.  Until I saw these new pictures I believe you could have made the argument that this was just a funny looking skyes monkey. What is very interesting to us is that the testicles of this animal are blue. This is a very specific trait of the veret monkey and not sykes. With this evidence there is no doubt in my mind now what we are looking at. This is indeed a hybrid and we are very excited to share these photos with you today.

We have been spending much more time with these animals in the last few weeks trying to gather as much information as possible. We have confirmed two individuals but know that there are at least 5. The one we followed on this day was hanging out with a group of sykes. Although he was positioned on the outside of the group, he seemed to display some of the dominant traits. The other monkeys stayed out his way and on a few occasions he approached our team a bit aggressively.  It is a common belief that when these two animals of different species mate the offspring will be unfertile. The question then arises why are there so many and have they formed a troop of their own? These are things we here at the trust are looking into. We look forward to collaborating with other researchers such as Yvonne A. de Jong & Thomas M. Butynski on this subject. The Colobus Trust will keep you updated on what we find as well as any information about where other incidences such as this may have happened before.

Andrew Hayes

www.colobustrust.org

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, deforestation, sustainable, volunteer | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: colobus

Recently the Colobus Trust has been making big moves to raise awarness in diani and all across Kenya. One big supporter of our cause has been the Daily Nation news papper. In the past few weeks two seperate articles have been written on the plight of the Angolan black and white colobus, our flagship speices, whos only remaining habbitat in kenya is here on the south coast. We would like to share these articles with our readers and thank the Daily Nation for its support. Media is one of the best ways for conservation groups to raise awarness. This is one of the largest news pappers in Kenya and is read by thousands of people a day.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/633412/-/item/0/-/18yang/-/index.html

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/630462/-/7l0l1v/-/index.html

 We would also like to thank the Great Primate Handshake. This group was with us a few weeks ago and worked on some very important videos for us here at the Trust. The first video is going to help us with our volunteer programs. We at the Colobus Trust would like to build our volunteer program to allow us to complete many of the projects which require more man power. If you know anyone who is interested in doing some volunteer work or who may have some vacation time and would like a different experience please let them know about us. I can personally guarantee a wonderful stay and an experience you can never forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYgtC5597b8&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=094AF86F0F47431C

This next video was made for the Kenya ferry service. This Ferry shuttles some 50,000-70,000 people back and forth from Likoni to Mombasa every day. At the waiting station for the ferry are two large screens, one on either end. We have arranged for the ferry service to play our video for free. This is going to raise a lot of awareness about the major issues here in Diani as well as provide information to tourist on what it is we do here at the trust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98fwLExkgEs&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=094AF86F0F47431C&index=2

 Once again I would like to thank you for joining us. As always small organizations with large responsibilities, such as the Colobus Trust, would not be able to exist without the support from doners such as yourselves. Please continue to support us and we will keep you updated on all of our projects.

Best wishes,

Andrew Hayes

Assistant manager

www.colobustrust.org

Tags: Education, Kenya Ferry services, News paper, primate handshake, volunteer, you tube

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