Spring 2003

CAPUCHIN UPDATE...

The capuchins, like the woollies, have welcomed the arrival of spring with great joy. The lengthening days have seen them spending increasing amounts of time outside, socialising and enjoying the enrichment and tasty treats we provide for them.

Gary has been spending time with both Frosty and Peppy and gets on well with both his companions. However, he has displayed a slightly two-faced side to his character.

Whenever Gary spends time with Frosty, the pair get on very well, although Frosty does dominate Gary slightly. But as soon as Gary and Peppy are reunited, the dynamic quickly changes. Once Gary has his friend, Peppy, to back him up, the two weeper capuchins can be seen taunting Frosty through the wires that separate them. Frosty, however, never seems to bear a grudge against the turncoat Gary, and they still spend many pleasurable days together.

One activity that Gary and Peppy particularly like to indulge in when together involves an interesting behaviour with spring onions. They will climb into a bunk together, taking the onions with them, and soon begin to rub the broken stems onto each other. This seems to be a very intimate act, which can become quite frenzied. After such episodes the bunks are found to be smeared with sweat, hair, and spring onion remains, accompanied by a strong smell. The capuchins will also rub chilli peppers onto their bodies, and sometimes indulge in the practice alone, but they definitely seem to enjoy it most when they are together.

As the capuchins spend more time together, they are gradually relearning many monkey social behaviours from each other. But not only are they learning from one another, Frosty recently surprised us all by emitting several ‘Eeollks’, which as many of our long term supporters will know, is the greeting call of the woollies! We had not previously heard him make this call, and it seems Frosty must have learnt it from the neighbouring colony.

To ensure that the capuchins are entertained throughout the summer, our two newest keepers, Mickey and Lou, have been appointed ‘Capuchin Enrichment Officers’, coming up with new ideas every day, to keep the highly intelligent capuchin boys entertained. A captive situation can never be ideal for any primate, but we are continually striving to provide the best life possible for our rescued monkeys here in Cornwall.

TEN WEEKS IN CHILE
by Brian Milton

At the beginning of October last year I went out to Chile for 10 weeks to work and live on the new piece of land which Elba, Carlos and their family had bought to house their ever-growing group of monkeys. For me it was a great opportunity to meet them, see their work (which I had greatly admired from a distance), meet their monkeys, and to help out in a small way with the development of their site.

It turned out to be the perfect time for me to go there, since there was some money available for building enclosures (a grant from IPPL and the money I won on ‘Swapheads’ – see last newsletter), and there was a keen group of volunteers from a Santiago university animal rights group willing to help out every Sunday. It was also beautiful weather – it rained for 15 minutes in the ten weeks, and the days were long and sunny. The land is beautiful, with four houses of various sizes and in various stages of dilapidation, some open ground and many fruit trees.

The work we were mostly doing was building a small complex of capuchin enclosures among the fruit trees behind the largest house, in which I was living. Most of the week I was working alone, but Carlos came out to help most Saturdays and on Sundays we had between four and twelve volunteers. Other work was also being carried out by local workmen, mainly building a tall boundary fence, to make the site more secure. By the end of my stay we had built the basic structure of five enclosures, and had planned and started what would be a huge enclosure for the woolly monkey colony, surrounding a large dead fir tree.

I was sharing my house and land with seven lovely rescued dogs. There were no monkeys on the site at the time, but the Centre was only ten minutes’ walk away, and I had my lunch and dinners there. It was wonderful getting to know Elba and her family, seeing her dedication to her monkeys and to stopping the pet trade, and also to see the support her family gives her and the sacrifices that they have all made. I saw Elba give talks to the public, appear on a TV chat show, talking to numerous journalists and chatting to Government officials. She has become quite famous in Chile and there is no doubt she is having a profound effect on the primate trade there.

I was very sad to leave Chile, but I felt we’d achieved quite a lot in the time I was there. I was thrilled when Elba sent a photo via e-mail of capuchins in the enclosures we built, and now Rachel and Rowan are out there looking after 20 capuchins, a chimpanzee, Toto, a woolly monkey, Manjar, and a dozen dogs. I look forward to returning sometime to see how things have progressed.