Colobus Trust

Category: Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Nov 20 2009 | By: colobus

Dear Readers,

We apologise for the lack of updates recently from the Trust! We’ve had a lot going on which we’ll update you all on in the next few days.

Regular visitors to our blog will know that we rescued a Bush Baby which we named Bahati. He was a favourite with the visiting school children as well as all the volunteers at the trust – even when we had to wake up every 3 hours to feed him! We taught him to jump over short distances and Marvo was building up to the ‘double jump’! Bahati was being fed on a diet of fruit and milk, but efforts to move him onto a diet of insects failed.

Last Monday he became a little weak but seemed to be improving and his appetite returned to normal. He was back to his noisy, active self on Tuesday. However when we woke him for one of his feeds on Wednesday afternoon he was very drowsy and would not feed. His condition did not improve and sadly he passed away later that day. As you all may know raising an infant without tender maternal care is very difficult and we did the best we could in order to see Bahati gradually become a healthy grown up Bush Baby but it was not meant to be.

Above: Our beloved Bahati with Marvo

He really was part of the family and his death has affected us all very strongly. We all miss him very much.

Thanks for reading and look out for our next update coming soon…

The Colobus Team.

Tags: bush baby, Colobus Trust, diani, Galago senegalensis, Kenya, primates, Progress report, volunteering

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Category: Progress report, Research, volunteer | Date: Nov 07 2009 | By: colobus

The Vervet-Sykes hybrid data collection has become rather frustrating recently as he become quite hard to find. When he has been found, the hybrid has still been looking quite battle-scarred! The old injury to his front leg seems to be still hurting him as he holds it at an odd angle and limps on it. He has recently also received a bite to his tail, which whilst being superficial looks quite painful. The bad gash to the hybrid’s rear leg, however, appears to be healing up really well- especially considering how bad it looked initially. In other good news, the hybrid has been groomed quite often by one of the female Sykes. Rob, ever dedicated, has collected a faecal sample which we will be sending off soon so that we can get a genetic profile for the hybrid.

The Colobus Team

Tags: Colobus Trust, diani, Hybrid, Kenya, Progress report, sykes, vervet, volunteer

2 responses so far

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

One response so far

Category: Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Nov 02 2009 | By: colobus

Bahati the bush baby has been with us for about 3 and a half weeks now- he is doing very well and things are looking up. He has started feeding on solid foods lately which is a good sign; he particularly seems to like bananas and papaya a lot. At least every volunteer at the trust takes turns to feed him everyday because he needs to be cared for and feed every 3 hours. Bahati has recently learned how to jump which is very impressive and he is gets better by the day. We have built him a wooden house, where he spends most of his time these days. We are all glad that we have been able to provide a home and the necessary love and care that he needs, and hopefully he will grow up to be a healthy self reliant bush baby who will take his rightful place in the ecosystem.

We will keep you informed about how Bahati is faring on in the near future.

Thanks,

Mavinya

Colobologist

Tags: bush baby, Colobus Trust, diani, Galago senegalensis, Kenya, Rescue, volunteer

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Category: Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Oct 27 2009 | By: colobus

We have been nursing the two infant bush babies that were rescued here in Diani. They were so young that at first we were not sure whether they would both survive but we decided to try anyway. The first bush baby, who we eventually named Bahati (meaning luck in Swahili), was about 3 weeks old; the other one, who we named Gizmo, was about 2 days old. We all knew it was going to be a challenge, primarily because at their tender ages they critically need maternal care. We quickly included them into our daily schedule which meant they were always with someone who was feeding, cleaning or monitoring them. This was an eventful task because they had to be fed every 2 hours, 24 hours a day, needed to be watched and we also had to massage their genital area to facilitate defecation.

Everybody at the trust had already started to create a bond with Bahati and Gizmo, and they had become very comfortable around us but unfortunately the young Gizmo passed away last week after a week with us. He was just too young to survive without his mother’s care. We will continue to provide 24 hour care for Bahati who is doing very well and we will let you know how he is getting on.

The Colobus Team.

Tags: bush baby, Colobus Trust, diani, Galago senegalensis, Kenya, Rescue, volunteer

One response so far

Category: Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Oct 16 2009 | By: colobus

There were two surprise arrivals at the Colobus Trust this week in the form of infant Bush Babies. The first, and larger of the two, was brought to the trust by a concerned resident of Diani, who had discovered the Bush Baby abandoned on his terrace. Only a day later, another bush baby found its way into the house here at Colobus Trust. It was Rob, one of the volunteers, who should be credited for rescuing the bush baby. Rob heard an unusual clicking sound coming from the education centre. On investigating, he found Nala- our resident cat- playing with the Bush Baby a corner of the room. Had it not been for Rob’s sharp hearing, the infant, which we believe to be just a few days old, would certainly have been eaten. Fortunately, Rob was able to pull Nala away before any serious harm was done.

Above: The elder Bush Baby resting on Polly

Being nocturnal the Bush Babies (we believe these are Galago senegalensis) spend their day sleeping either in a large cardboard box along with a soft toy acting as a comforter, or held in a kikoi with one of the volunteers.  As luck would have it, the two bush babies are getting along together very well and could not be happier when snuggling up to one another for a nice long sleep.

Above: The second arrival!

While Polly has taken the role of mother for the babies, everyone is doing their part in helping to feed and look after them. We are giving the Bush Babies round-the-clock care in order to ensure their survival and hope to be able to release them into the wild eventually.

Please feel free to post any suggestions for their names, or alternatively email them to info@colobustrust.org- we’d love to hear them.

Stay tuned for their progress!

The Colobus Team.

Tags: bush baby, Colobus Trust, Galago senegalensis, Kenya, Rescue, volunteer

One response so far

Category: Progress report, Research, deforestation, volunteer | Date: Oct 01 2009 | By: colobus

In the last few days we have stepped up our data gathering on the potential Vervet/Sykes hybrid.

For the past three days the Sykes troop with which the hybrid associates has been located on the old nature trail at Leopard Beach Resort and Spa, close to the hotel’s southern boundary.

The hybrid can be differentiated from the rest of the troop by several factors. Its fur is much more Vervet-like in colour than that of the Sykes. The most obvious difference is that unlike Sykes monkeys but in common with Vervets it has blue balls. There is also the fact that it just looks a bit strange that makes it stand out. He is also currently carrying a few injuries which make him more readily identifiable. He has a cut on its left shoulder which he can often be seen trying to lick, as well as an older injury on his right front leg. The injury on his leg appears to be painful as he does not put his full weight on it and so limps along a little. A male Sykes in the troop also has a couple of recent injuries to its right shoulder and leg. Whether this is just a coincidence or the result of a fight between the two we don’t know.

The hybrid is almost always found on his own and often on the periphery of the troop. Although other Sykes do move relatively close to him, the closest recent social interaction that has been observed is when the hybrid moved up to and sat next to an adult female Sykes. However she walked away almost immediately when he did this.

Above: The hybrid at Leopard Beach

Due to the density of some of the low-level forest vegetation, maintaining visual contact and following the hybrid at times have proved to be challenging to say the least! Fortunately there appears to be a pattern with their movement over the last few days so it has often been possible to head them off at the pass, as it were. On a number of occasions the resort’s staff have also been very helpful in locating the hybrid when he has been out of sight.

Most of the observations recorded so far suggest that the main activities the hybrid engages in are grooming himself and resting. This may just be a result of the time the observations have been taken rather than due to other factors. Most primates indulge in the majority of their direct social interactions, such as grooming and playing, in the early morning and late afternoon. So far the recent observations have been taken from mid morning till about 1pm, this might explain the lack of social interactions between the hybrid and other members of the troop. Hopefully a couple of early morning starts will show if the hybrid does interact with any other monkeys.

The question is how did this potential hybrid arise? We think that the hybrid may be the result of greater interaction between the Vervets and Sykes caused by the continued reduction in the availability of suitable habitat for each troop. Further study is needed to reveal if this is indeed the case. For example, however, just yesterday the Sykes troop and a Vervet troop met up with each other on a grassy area in front of the resort’s Spa buildings. The two troops freely intermixed but only two cases of direct interaction were observed. A juvenile Vervet and a juvenile Sykes briefly approached each other and touched before walking away again and there was a small fight between a Vervet and Sykes. The Sykes troop is also often in proximity to a couple of different Colobus troops but no direct interaction has yet been seen.

At some stage we are planning to dart the hybrid so that we can take physical measurements and to obtain a DNA sample so that we can have a genetics test run. However because we are currently critically low on our resources required for darting, they are being reserved for welfare cases only at the moment.

Hope to give you more information soon!

Rob

Colobologist

Tags: behaviour study, Colobus Trust, deforestation, Hybrid, Kenya, social interaction, sykes, vervet, volunteer

One response so far

Category: Education, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Sep 24 2009 | By: colobus

Erica, our orphaned monkey here at the Colobus Trust, has been spending the vast majority of her two months here in the company of humans. Now that she is getting bigger and more independent it is important that she spends less time with humans and more time with monkeys.

As part of the process or her being released into the wild, Erica has been spending more time in the rehabilitation cages with our older rescued Sykes monkey, SF1. They get on very well and so far have been happy to spend a few hours or more in each other’s presence. They play, jumping around on the ropes and branches that are there as part of their enrichment, as well as learning how to groom.

Above: Erica and SF1 eating in the cage

Our eco-volunteer Becky has been working on Erica’s tree-climbing skills and ensuring that the orphan has confidence in her abilities so that she climbs higher and more independently. Becky is also finding ways of introducing Erica to the food that she would eat in the wild, such as neem fruits.

We will build up the time that Erica spends in the cage and in the trees over the next month or so, in order that she relies less on human contact. The whole process of her release is likely to take up to a year, after which she will hopefully be fully wild.

Keep checking the blog for more updates on Erica and SF1!

The Colobus Team

Tags: animal rescue, Colobus Trust, learning, Monkey Rehabilitation, progress, sykes, volunteer

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Category: Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Sep 11 2009 | By: colobus

We welcomed a new addition to the Colobus Trust yesterday- a Sykes monkey who had been kept as a pet. When she was an infant, her mother was killed in a traffic accident and the driver took pity on her and raised her himself. She is probably one and a half or two years old now and her owner decided that she was becoming too difficult for them to handle, so she was handed over to the National Museums of Kenya, who in turn contacted us.

Her story is like that of many other pet primates who become unmanageable as they become older. While when very young primates are very cute and relatively easy to deal with, as they grow and mature they become more difficult to control. As they reach sexual maturity they will try and establish for themselves a position in the group in which they live. They do this as they would in the wild by threat displays and attacks. This can result in severe injuries to their owners. Primates can also carry diseases which can be lethal to humans.

Above: The new addition is settling in well

Most primates are highly social, and when deprived of sufficient interaction become bored, and because of their strength and intelligence they can do a large amount of damage to any area they are left in. The lack of interaction with other individuals can also cause psychological problems which can result in the animal indulging in self harming and other detrimental behaviors.

The aim of the rehabilitation unit at the Colobus Trust, which is the only primate rehabilitation unit in Kenya, is to ultimately return any animals back to the wild. To help achieve this interaction with people is limited as much as possible, with the hope that the animals will ultimately no longer associate people with providing for them.

The Sykes was given some vaccinations before being released into her new cage, where she appears to have settled in well. We hope that her stay here with us will be as short as possible and that we will be able to get her back out in to the wild as soon as we can. We will update you on her progress!

The Colobus Team

Tags: Monkey centre, rehabilitation, sykes, wild release

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Category: Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Sep 05 2009 | By: colobus

The orphaned baby Sykes monkey that Andrew reported on back in July is doing very well. After finding out she is in fact a girl, not a boy, the monkey has been renamed Erica instead of Eric!

After her initial struggle to survive, Erica has been going from strength to strength. In her first few weeks at the Colobus Trust, Erica was only drinking formula milk. However, in the last month we have added non-acidic fruits and vegetables to her diet. Her favourites are definitely mango and cucumber! What’s more, Erica has been venturing out into the trees at the Trust, exploring what she likes to eat in the wild. She was timid at first when it came to venturing on to the branches, but with a little tree-climbing on our part, she was soon clambering through the vegetation. The volunteers at the trust all enjoy being surrogate mothers to Erica, and take it in turns to have her sleep with them in order that she doesn’t become too attached to one person. In spite of this, our volunteer Michaela always gets preferential treatment from Erica!

Erica gets acquainted with the trees

Whether she is leaping around playing, suckling on an earlobe or lip, giving warning calls when there are baboons in the garden or even when she wants someone to groom her, Erica ensures that life here is always entertaining!

Watch out for an update on Erica’s next steps…..

Tags: primate rescue, progress, sykes, volunteer

One response so far