Upon release, the original four vervets went to a nearby forest patch where they stayed for the entire first day.  They ate wild foods, groomed one another and alarmed appropriately to unknown animals (including a female ostrich).  The ex-pet however, refused to leave the cage and when finally enticed out with food, but stayed close to the researchers.  At the end of the three day observation period, she still remained on the periphery of the vervet troop.  This exemplifies the fact that primate ex-pets require long periods of time to de-orient themselves from humans toward their own species.  It is hoped that the female will become more integrated into the troop now that the observers have left.  

Follow-Up:
The Trust, a staff member of Coral Cove Cottages, and three Camps International volunteers returned to Shimba Hills on September 22nd.  After valiantly hiking thirty kilometers over the three day monitoring period, hiking up rock faces, being chased by elephants, the team did not find the vervets. The Trust is therefore seeking donations of primate radio transmitters in order to monitor the success of its reintroductions in the future.  It is only through finding them again, can we gauge whether our techniques are effective or not.

Profiles of Vervets Released:
Tony:  male approximately 3 years 7 months old.  Tony arrived as an infant of only one or two months old at Coral Cove Cottages in Tiwi, south coast, Kenya in May 2000.   He had been kept in a village north of Mombasa and was confiscated by the Kenya Wildlife Service and KSPCA.  Kerstin Handelman hand reared Tony for five months

An initial release of Tony at the Colobus Cottage was unsuccessful.  He was released with another juvenile male, Sony.  Both were well habituated to people and spent most of the time in and around the cottage including taking food from the kitchen.  In addition, the dominant male of the resident troop was extremely aggressive, attacking the juveniles regularly. 

A second release attempt for both juveniles was made in Bamburi Nature trail north of Mombasa.  This was on February 1st, 2001.  Upon release, the vervets were fed three times a day for two weeks after which a protocol was initiated to wean them off human food to encourage eating of wild foods.  This proved to be very successful.    Unfortunately, by the fifth day of the release, Tony and Sony began frequenting the cafeteria and taking food. Tourists and staff exacerbated the problem by throwing them scrapes of food.  By the ninth day of release,  Sony began having some positive interactions with the Park’s home troop.  In the end, Tony was re-confiscated from Bamburi by KSPCA and Kerstin in April 2001 due to the problems associated with the restaurant.  Tony was taken back to Tiwi and placed in a rehabilitation cage at Coral Cove Cottages with three other vervets.  Sony remained, joining the troop successfully and avoiding the restaurant.

Pumpkin: female 2 years 8 months old.  She was brought to Coral Cove Cottages as an infant from a neighbour whose dog brought it to them.  Two weeks of searching for the mother was not successful and no female was interested in adopting her. 

Koko: female 2 years 9 months.  Koko was kept at KSPCA and fostered by Aisha Khan for three months.  The mother was found dead on the road north of Mombasa, with the new born on her. 

Steve:  male approximately 3 years.  Steve was confiscated from Likoni and also went to the KSPCA.  Steve and Koko then were sent to Tiwi together. 

From May 2001 to August 2003, Tony, Sony, Pumpkin, Koko and Steve have lived semi-free. They were able to enter and leave the rehabilitation cage as they wanted.  As the vervets became older, dominance hierarchies, and territoriality came into play.  Tony bit one guest and Koko continuously bit the daughter of the Cottage’s owner.  The vervets made up their own troop and they were successful at eating wild foods and spotting predators but the increased aggressiveness of Tony and Koko made the Coral Cottages look for a long term solution. 

Meanwhile at Colobus Trust ….
On June 21st, near Likoni Ferry, immediately south of Mombasa, KSPCA and the Kenya Wildlife Service undertook a middle of the night raid to confiscate a vervet monkey and a young baboon.  The confiscation was successful.  The vervet was in good condition though the baboon was in worse condition.  He had been kept in a box, his legs atrophied, he had already suffered permanent lower spinal injury.  Both the vervet and the baboon came to us the following Monday afternoon after they were presented in court as ‘evidence’. 

The vervet lost weight in the first week that she was at the Trust.  This is a normal reaction of a monkey who has had close associations with people over a long period of time, and those people are no longer around.  As she ate very little, we began her on infant follow-on formula and cerelac – and fed her through a syringe.  She happily licked the end as we slowly pushed in the plunger.  When she stabilized in her feeding, she was taken to Tiwi to be introduced to the other four vervets for a two-week holding period before the release to Shimba.