Winter 2005

It has been a very busy time for us here. In September 2005 three more capuchins arrived at The Monkey Sanctuary. They had come from Norfolk where they had been living together for over 17 years. They are all black capped capuchins. Their owner phoned us after he had realized he was no longer giving them the care and attention that they needed. Initially we were told that there was two girls, Mickey and Tanya and boy, Jacko. However, when we arrived at the vet with the monkeys it very quickly became obvious that Jacko was female! All the girls were fitted with contraceptive implants, given a health check and then brought to their new home. They were all healthy if a little underweight and Mickey had a couple of teeth removed. Jacko soon became Jackie instead.

They had only just finished their quarantine when we were contacted by an ex-sanctuary very close to us that could no longer care for the last two monkeys at the sanctuary. One was called Missy and at around 38 years old (capuchins can live until their forties in captivity) she was the oldest capuchin to ever arrive here. Missy had only a couple of toes, a couple of fingers, very little hair, half a tail and a very curved spine as a result of osteoporosis. Much of her spine vertebrae were fused together, and a severe calcium deficiency was apparent. She also had pressure sores all over her feet, bottom and body. Her bones were highly visible as she had no body fat. We also discovered three vaginal polyps (lumps of tissue) which would have been causing her great discomfort and one eye was clouded over impairing her vision.

She had been living with Charlie Brown a black capped capuchin, about 5 - 7 years old who is in wonderful health.

We had already spent some time converting some of the capuchin territory and a hut so that Missy would be able to move about despite her disabilities. Missy's spirit and will to live amazed us all. She loved to be outside in the sunshine, foraging and even running. She liked it so much we actually put tarpaulin over the whole enclosure to keep rain out and warmth in. She pottered around her converted bungalow throughout the day and would find her way to sleep with Charlie in the bunk in the evenings.

After a few weeks of Missy and Charlie Brown adapting to Sanctuary life, discovering their new territory and our other residents and whilst just beginning to form new relationships with keepers, Missy sadly took a turn for the worse. She went downhill very quickly. On Christmas Eve, two keepers made sure she was warm and comfortable and, with Charlie still in her company, the inevitable happened and Missy passed away quietly in the night. Given her physical and mental state by the time she arrived with us, her life seemed to have been long and painful. She can now finally rest in peace.

Meanwhile Charlie Brown is beginning the next exciting and positive stage of his life. He is a friendly, healthy and enthusiastic monkey. Charlie, Mickey, Tanya and Jackie have all met the original members of the rescue centre gang: Frosty, Gary , Peppy, Coco and Chanel. Frosty has become the most eligible bachelor with Jackie falling madly in love with him and trying to flirt outrageously with him. Frosty and Charlie Brown have also bonded very well and we have high hopes that they can be long term buddies.

We are now at full capacity in the rescue centre and are unable to bring any more monkeys here until we have more space. With your help we can build new territory to help more monkeys in need.