Primate Rescue

   ANIMAL WELFARE   
 

We believe every animal has a right to life; therefore, all of Diani’s primates have a right to their habitat and to live as the wild animals they are. The main aim of the animal welfare department is to mitigate and lessen the negative impact that humans have on Diani’s Primates. These negative impacts include road traffic accidents (usually hit and run), electrocutions, poisoning, dog bites, snares, fractures and other injuries. The animal welfare team strives to respond to all cases within 30 minutes of their being reported and is usually successful.

   Animal Rescue   
 

We have a 24 hour available rescue service to answer any wildlife casualty calls, which we receive from hotels and the local community of Diani and its surrounding areas. Our rescue unit is comprised of an animal welfare staff member, at least one assistant for each rescue call and our rescue vehicle. After we obtain all the necessary information about a casualty the rescue team departure time (to get everything in order) is 10 minutes. Time of arrival is dependant upon incident location distance of course. Once the team arrives at the site an assessment of the situation is made, and what actions should be taken. If the situation warrants the removal of the animal for treatment, there are two forms of doing this: trapping (where we place attractive pieces of food inside a cage and wait for the individual to enter the cage – this does not work with Colobus monkeys) or chemical restraint. If the individual is already on the ground in bad condition it is sometimes possible to capture it through the use of a net and then transfer it to a transport cage. Badly injured primates are still extremely strong and potentially dangerous, so great care must be taken during this process. After the animal has been picked up it is transferred to our veterinary clinic where we carry out further assessments to determine how best to treat the animal. The cases we encounter on a daily basis are the direct result of human activities; road traffic accidents, electrocutions, snares, poisoning, and dog bites. We do encounter some natural causes which include snake bites, fights within troops or with other primate species, and tetanus as a result of open wound infections. In the past we have treated all species of primates that are found in Diani (the Angolan Colobus, Sykes, Vervets, Baboons and Bush Babies), Suni antelope and the occasional monitor lizard, raptor, wood owl, turtle and any other wildlife that exists in the coastal habitat. After diagnosis in the vet clinic the vet and vet assistant take all measures to treat the animal. Success rates are not always high due to; severity of injuries, elapsed time from incident to its report to CT, insufficient equipment and drugs. After an animal has been successfully treated (unsuccessful cases unfortunately result in death or euthanasia after exhausting all medical options) it is moved to the quarantine area for recovery.

In the course of the recovery period which, may vary according to the injury, the animal receives continuous drug administration (when required) and of course is fed the best diet possible to regain its strength. Our quarantine facility is built in a manner that enables the animal peace and quiet while recovering, with the minimal amount of stress inducers, yet still being in eye contact with its surrounding and exposed to daylight. Once the animal is considered recovered and capable of returning to the wild, it is released as early and as close to its capture location as possible. Our general aim is to treat and release as soon as possible in order to increase the animal's chance of returning to its troop and habitat.

  Animal Welfare Statistics 

 

   Rehabilitation  

Rehabilitation at the Colobus Trust usually targets former pet primates with the view to returning them to the wild.

All primates are really cute and amusing when they are young, thus tempting some people to keep them as pets until they begin to mature, particularly sexually. At this time, they become more aggressive as their natural behaviour to increase their dominance standing. Concurrently, they get bigger and grow longer canines, so when they bite (accidentally or otherwise) they do more damage. It is usually at this stage that most of these owners bring them to us.

Kenyan law does not permit keeping wild animals. Monkeys are wild animals. In a few cases, people found keeping or selling monkeys are arrested, charged in court or fined and their ‘pets’ confiscated. After being taken to court as ‘evidence,’ the monkeys are brought to us.

Immediately the monkeys are brought in we begin their rehabilitation. This entails the re-learning of behaviours of wild monkeys, learning what foods to eat, learning how to interact with the other monkeys and essentially learning that humans are not friends.

In order for them to learn how to be monkeys and how to interact with wild ones we have built large mesh cages through which they can see and touch the wild ones. This way they see how the different hierarchy levels operate, the various calls and their meanings, and if they make friends, they can give each other a groom.

To learn which foods to eat we give them a wide variety of wild leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds.

To learn that humans are not friends, we limit contact with them, do not make any friendly sounds at them and also they watch the reaction of other monkeys to us so that by the time they are ready to leave, they are not seeking human attention as they often do when they first come in.

This process can take anything from three weeks to three months and longer depending on the monkey, how long it was a pet, and whether it stayed in the house or was allowed to live in a semi-wild state. The monkeys are continuously assessed and when ready, they are released into a forest habitat usually far from human habitation because even if they do not seek human attention anymore, they have no fear for us, and this makes them even more dangerous than the wild ones.

As monkeys are social animals, re-introductions are done in groups of ex-captives giving each individual a greater chance of surviving. In a group, each individual comes with its own memories of how to live wild so that they will learn from each other. A group gives them greater safety from predators and the sociability that they require. In most species, individual ‘strangers’ will be attacked and not normally let into a wild troop therefore releasing one individual is not done.