Rehabilitation, Education, Sanctuary is what the VMF is all about and every month we seem to definitely play a part in each of those words as you will see in the news to follow.

This month we have had a couple of road accident victims, aswell as a monkey burnt on a power line. Humans certainly seem to be the vervets biggest and most threatening predator.

Elton managed to get into a fight with Top Right in the Bachelor Block and so Dan & Lacey took him to the vets for stitches on his head. The shaved area now gives him a lot more character but we have to watch out for sunburn until his hair grows back! Elton is making a full recovery and is back with the boys.

We are entering a change over period of voluntary staff whereby we will be welcoming Melanie and Joe to help look after some of the sections. Meanwhile Daniel Grove is now our Head keeper having been here for over 18 months and is responsible for the smooth running of all areas and that the best is done for the monkeys on each section. Assistant Manager Hollie Vercoe is currently at the PASA Education workshop in Uganda and Chris has taken the opportunity to join her later on to go Gorilla trekking for a few days after.

We are looking for a Volunteer Co-ordinator with great people skills to help look after our team of ever-changing dedicated volunteers. We are looking for that special person who has all the dedication, positivity and enthusiasm to join our voluntary team to enable as much as possible to be done for the monkeys. Please e-mail josie@vervet.za.org for a full job description if you are interested.

Matthew Chard, Alex Lewin, Lucy Knight, Alice Deroo, Katharine Richardson, Matt Stephenson, Jessika Markey.

Welcome back:
Emily Elmer, David Fancsali, Cori Bailey.

Ahh where to begin….so much has happened.
Perhaps we will start with the Dino Daniel babies.
Shortly after our last update, Dan, Hollie, Chris and Sophie began integration with the babies out in the enclosure. Who would have believed that Ruby would have been the first baby to brave the enclosure by herself! Johan, not to be outdone, soon established himself as the ‘best explorer’, he was certainly the hardest baby to entice back into the cage each day! It was soooo much fun watching our babies explore actual tress and play in the grass, they loved it.

The juniors were mostly very good with the babies during this period. Scritch, Mamba and Hoppy were particularly playful and if we were handing out medals for the best ‘big brothers’ then these three would definitely win. The ‘girls’ such as Jessie, Chane, Phylis and Precious were very calm and allowed the babies plenty of space and time to explore their new surroundings. Mistletoe also tried, but found the process very difficult as the babies were very scared of her and she often became frustrated as they wouldn’t sit still long enough for her to groom them.

We subsequently ceased enclosure integration and moved Honeybear, Vista and Jupiter up from Skunkey, to help serve as protective motherly figures and for Jupiter to become a part of a troop. The babies really enjoyed this and several of them (particularly Johan) gave Honeybear’s nipples a thorough milk test! They have spent the last month getting to know each other and we are going to re-start troop integration in the near future.

Two weeks ago, the remaining orphans moved to a newly erected intro cage on the Koko enclosure. This has been a massive adjustment, sharing a fence line with adult monkeys! The electric fence also zapped a few over enthusiastic babies, with a few slow learners repeat offending. They have definitely missed the constant foot traffic around Disneyland.

Buster, the newest addition to the group has opened up, become superbly playful and brave. He is becoming a real character to watch in his new surroundings.

Koko troop have been fairly understanding, and there certainly has not been any major aggression shown towards the babies. We are about to begin integrations in the coming weeks. Watch this space!

If you missed the video of the juveniles going out into the Dino & Daniel enclosure for the first time, you can view it here:

Click here to view the video of the orphans first day in the Dino & Daniel enclosure

Over the past month I have had the opportunity to help with Sangoma’s integration into Sickbay troop. We started by slowly introducing him to the troop one at a time in his intro cage. He behaved very well with all of the girls, and even junior Mischief came and sat right next to him eating his food without issue. After everyone calmed down and started grooming each other, Mischief got really brave and went up to Sangoma (and Sangoma is an intimidating big adult male) and started play facing at him, and Sangoma play faced right back! Josie and I watched in awe as Sangoma very gently wrestled and played with little Mischief for almost half an hour.

Sangoma was doing so well in integrations – he had all of the girls, little Mischief, and adult male Henry in his cage visiting with no problems – that the time finally arrived for Sangoma to venture out into Sickbay enclosure after just 3 weeks to explore and familiarize himself with his new territory. For his safety we put alpha male Legolas into an adjoining intro cage so Sangoma could look around without fear of any fights breaking out, and then we opened the door. He went out almost immediately, and shortly after walked further in and climbed up a tree. The second day he went out I watched little junior Mischief following him around calling for attention.
It was a tense day when Sangoma was finally let into the enclosure to meet alpha male Legolas, but the introduction went smoothly. Sangoma did receive one small cut during the next couple days but has been successfully integrated into the troop and can often be seen walking the fenceline beside James enclosure and eyebrowing geriatric male Scat through the fence.

Dolly has also started integrations into Sickbay enclosure and her and alpha female Pippa like to spend hours grooming each other whilst juvenile Mischief likes to chase her in the hope of another playmate!

Adult male Baromir has now joined Adult female Nigella and they are getting on just fine.

When was the last time I visited a primary school?
The thought plays on my mind as the dusty blue gate slides open, signalling the VMF’s arrival at the local Tzaneen school and our destination for the day’s presentation. Try as I might, I can’t shake the nagging suspicion that my last trip inside such an institution was around fifteen years ago, and finished with me helping to toilet-paper the principal’s car. Considering that today’s goal for Chris, Hollie, Dave and I is to educate the local population about living with vervets it is clear that a different approach may be necessary this time around. You know; like maybe one with less toilet-paper?

If life at the VMF has taught me anything, however, it is that there is no such thing as an average day, and that Africa can take you to some places you probably never expected to end up. One day you are sliding down waterfalls, the next you are falling asleep in a bakkie-tray full of pawpaws. Taking this into account, it is probably only natural that I ended up returning to school at some stage, and as if to solidify this, a vervet appears as soon as our car pulls into its parking spot. Bounding across the bright colours of the playground the little primate looks as happy as any of the school kids. Sadly, it probably doesn’t react to Simba chips and grape Fanta as well as them, which is why there’s a need to give the school information about dealing with vervets.

Enter team VMF.
Squeezing all the school into the assembly hall, Chris takes the stage while Hollie works the powerpoint, leaving Dave to wait for question time and me to lurk in the background with a video-camera like that creepy next-door neighbour from American Beauty. After the first couple of minutes it becomes clear that we have our work cut out. When asked (and coerced by lollipops) some students think that vervets only have one finger and one toe, while others list the vervet’s natural predators as tigers, lightning and dinosaurs. One youngster even guesses that Chris is actually the world’s biggest All Black supporter who happens to be from China!

Refusing to give in, team VMF ploughs ahead. Chris may be more used to teaching rugby players the size of small family cars, but it is clear that if he ever chooses to make the move to primary education that he wouldn’t be out of his depth. Each fact he gives the audience is taken on board, with the mixture of statistics, photos, videos and cartoons presented in a fashion which keeps even the most fidgety of kids entertained.  Likewise, Hollie never misses a slide or a chance to expand on information, dodging schoolboy antics and makeshift hairdressers without batting an eyelid.

As cameraman for the day I have a great view of everything (minus the occasional bump to my tripod, spoiling the Spielberg-esque production values), and am genuinely excited to see the change in the crowd. The children’s blind enthusiasm slowly starts to turn to a gentle understanding. With their crazy antics and cheeky temperaments the line between baby vervets and human children can be a slim one, and it is clear that this is not lost on the students. When a slide of Nicky appears and Chris elaborates on the story of how her mother was killed, and how she subsequently had to have her own arm amputated, the tragedy of the situation leaves a real mark.

Once Chris and Hollie finish it is question time, and we leave Dave to overcome his pathological fear of children and field all the queries they have regarding vervets. Once again, their questions show that they have a genuine care for the plight of the monkeys, and even the school’s principal can’t help but get involved and try to squeeze out more information. Such enthusiasm keeps bubbling along even after the assembly as finished, with Chris doing his best to answer questions while fitting in a fourth piece of chocolate cake at morning tea. It is an encouraging sign for the VMF, and an indication that although the job will never be done, there is a genuine desire within elements of the community to try and find more effective ways of living with vervets. Bidding farewell to the school, we head into the afternoon sun and know that a small step forward has been taken and I didn’t have to stop for toilet-paper once....

Mosemane

Two juveniles arrived this month both hit by cars on the road. The first was Mosemane (named by Wendy Morgan meaning boy in Sotho). Mosemane was found unconscious in the middle of the road but luckily a caring lady picked him up and brought him to us. He made a rapid recovery and was released back to where he was found after locating his troop. It was such a special moment to see Mosemane calling to his troop as his mum picked him up and carried him away to safety. Thank you to Lorraine and Kathy who came with us on the release to help locate the troop.

Jayla

The other juvenile that was brought to us was also picked up on the side of the road but this time someone sold her for R50. A passing car stopped, picked her up and took her to the vets where we collected her from. She arrived with a lot of bruising over her left eye and quite wobbly from head trauma. Dawn Puttock named her 'Jayla' meaning 'the one who is special' after her niece's middle name. After making a full recovery, we eventually found out all the details as to the exact location Jayla was found and tracked down her troop before Hillary, Gabi, Dave and myself released her back with her family.

With head injury victims it's important to ensure they are fully aware and constantly assessed before returning them to their troop as they can easily relapse. Often victims will go in and out of consciousness and may appear like they are used to people which isn't the case - they are just unaware of their surroundings and suffering from some serious trauma. The more info we have when people find a monkey on the road the better, that way we can ensure they are returned back to the wild as soon as possible rather than staying with us at the sanctuary. We plea with all drivers to slow down on the roads and look out for wildlife, if you see one monkey crossing the road, there are often many more following behind. These two are very lucky but there are many more killed every day.

Click here to view the VMF online shop

If you are interested in purchasing a 2012 calendar please e-mail josie@vervet.za.org with your name, e-mail and address so we can send them out to you once printed and inform you of P&P costs from UK or SA. The cost will be R100 each per calendar and will also be available to purchase from the online shop at a later date.

Thank you this month to:

Ante Heimer - set up a monthly standing order for the monkeys
Trudi Humphrey-Rankin – sent some bandages and medical supplies for the monkeys.
Arlene Brahm - donated $100
AMCF – medical parcel
Denise Schwabe, Gillian Smyth, Christina Griffin, Gabrielle Bertrand, Dawn Puttock, Alexandra Robertson, Maggie Calkins – donated heat lamps for the sickbay area.
Thiago Lourenco Christofoletti - $25
Riverside Rehabilitation Centre – helped with supplies of butternuts
Tommy from Sungro - has offered to donate bananas monthly for the monkeys

We had an interesting month in terms of volunteers, first aid and rescue missions. Volunteer Gabrielle Bertrand from France managed to fracture her heel at a waterfall when going slightly off track. Luckily other volunteers were there to help keep her warm using a R20 note and a lighter to start a fire until the rescue team arrived that Dave had organised after receviing a phone call back at the VMF. Despite everything and after spending a few days in hospital, Gabi still wanted to stay and help the monkeys and it really shows the dedication she has to integrating the monkeys into troops with her leg in a cast she still managed to get Thistle out into Skrow Troop, de-worm the whole troop and was there to watch the release of Jayla despite using crutches to cross a huge heap of sawdust from a mill and all with a smile! Thank you to Dave Protter from response rescue who organised the whole rescue mission as it wasn't easy!

Back at the sanctuary, a little juvenile from Skrow Troop had somehow managed to keep zapping itself on the electric fence and was unable to get off, volunteer Danny quickly called for help which enabled Josie to disconnect the fence, Dan got the monkey off the line using his rubber boot whilst Dave ran in the enclosure to pick the monkey up so we could recover him. Danny and Dan aptly named the little juvenile 'Zap' and he recovered quickly and returned to his troop.

This month six voluntary VMF staff went on a FIrst Aid Training Course to renew their certificates: Dave, Josie, Hillary, Paul, Dan and Lacey attended. Thank you to Juan at Zambezi Ambulance for the discounted rate enabling so many staff to attend.

I arrived at the VMF in Sept last year not knowing what to expect, over the past 11 months I have learned what wonderful creatures the Vervets are. I have been there for baby season and seen the tradgedy of traumatised orphans, who have been torn from their mothers dead bodies, then worked with dedicated volunteers and staff helping them learn to trust and bond with the other orphans, creating vital friendships and social bonds.

I was fortunate enough to help with integrations watching as adult orphans became a part of a troop, sometimes this is sucessful, sometimes not. Working closely with experienced staff like Dan and Sophie, learning alongside others, seeing the dedication that Dave and Josie put into running the foundation every day, has shown me what can be achieved by hard work and dedication. Each day brings different challenges, monkey and human alike, many volunteers come and go in a year, many remain in touch and help with crucial fundraising which save monkeys lives. I was responsible for bottom section whilst at the foundation and to anyone who has been they will know this is the crazy monkey section... well Skunkey enclosure is in some ways as it contains many humanised monkeys. Any reputation they have gained is due to the actions of people who kept them as pets or traumatised and abused them, I love each and everyone for their amazing personalities and will miss them dearly, leaving them was the hardest thing.

I am leaving the foundation, but not the VMF, my time here has been valuable but I feel I can contribute more as I am going home to train to become a pro fundraiser and recruit volunteers, if anyone wants to help please feel free to email me at lollyloo.0@hotmail.com. I will continue to support the VMF from the UK.

Thank you to Loo for all her dedication and enthusiasm this past year, it's really made a difference.

Amy Paynter, Matt Gilroy, Taryn Ryan (return), Mar Calles, Elizabeth Nicoll, Tim Selij, Marissa Selij, Hilde Leeuis, Georgia Williamson, Joanna Taylor, Arthur Kegels, Maddy Thaler, Rosie Wheeler, April Wampole, Ossian O' Sullivan, Liora Naroditsky, Emily Elmer, Jo Rook, Heather Crighton, Ellen van der Staal, Lorraine Belcher.