An action-packed visit to the UK was had by Dave and myself last month whilst our dedicated staff looked after the centre.

It started witth the PASA Management Conference held in Kent at The Mansion, Port Lympne followed by a visit to Howletts Animal Park. We were also lucky enough to receive a hand held centrifuge thanks to a grant organised by Jill Moyse at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago. This will help with our faecal analysers that we were given at the veterinary PASA workshop last year.

Thank you to volunteer Carole Degiorgio for her hospitality at the Inn on the Lake which enabled both Dave and myself to attend the conference.

We kept to a strict itinerary of events to enable us to fit everything in. The trip ended with a visit to the Monkey Sanctuary in Looe, Cornwall where we stayed for a few days with staff Claire and Macer (who also volunteered with us in 2010 and have helped getting the new recipe books printed).

Good news for the quarantine monkeys this month - thanks to Chris who has worked hard on trapping and re-locating the monkeys - quarantine is now empty and a spring clean has been started ready for any new arrivals.

This month, we say goodbye to volunteer driver Ross and thank him for all the work he's put in over the past 5 months. Having a long term driver has helped enormously and means more focus can be on the monkeys. We will be welcoming Paul shortly as our new voluntary driver - more to come next month.

Thank you to all our volunteers this month who have been working extra hard to compensate for the low numbers. Anyone who can help display posters to encourage more volunteers, please e-mail josie@vervet.za.org so we can progress further for the monkeys.

Rosie Wheeler, Daniel Keam, Anne-Marie, Sarah Boydell, Paul Rickman, Mia Desmedt, Nichola Perks.

Welcome back:
Taryn Ryan

Benny Reginaldo Mucavele passed away in hospital on 30th May 2011.

Having worked for the VMF for 10 years since 2001, many volunteers would have known Benny who worked primarily around the sickbay area and Main Feed areas. Many an evening was had which ended in singing and dancing around a fire.

In honor of Benny, we have started a collection to be able to provide his friends the local workers with a bench or two at Main Feed area where they spend much of their time preparing food for the monkeys as well as their breaks. We will put a small plaque on the benches in Benny's name so he will always be remembered as part of the team.

Please use the click to donate button on our website or our UK account and e-mail josie@vervet.za.org to let us know the contribution is for Benny.

UK account:
Vervet Monkey Foundation
Sort code: 77-25-02
Account number: 17991360

Click here - to contribute towards the Benny collection

Thistle integration to Skrow Troop

For a few weeks now we have been letting females and juveniles in to meet Thistle an adult male in Skrow A. He has made a few friends and now enjoys the company. Over the past few weeks it has been a joy to see him interact with the others more and more, he now play fights with the juniors and enjoys being groomed. His favourite by far is Anna (previous alpha female), when he sees her in the enclosure he calls to her and loves her visits. We are now letting Thistle out into the troop, he is cautious naturally as he needs to establish his position, we hope that over the next couple of weeks he will spend more time out in the troop and eventually want to stay out with them.

Armstrong moves in with Honeybear, Vista & Jupiter

This month saw Armstrong move from Skunkey G where he lived with Elf and Thandi, to Skunkey B2 with Honey Bear, Vista and Jupiter. He has been moved in preparation of their relocation from Skunkey, to join Mesie and the Juniors and Juvenilles in the Daniel and Dino enclosure. If all works out, Thandi may join them when they are settled as she is being given a little extra help in sick bay to improve her health. Armstrong was very well behaved and relaxed about the move, as he and Honey Bear have shared before they were comfortable with each other from the start.

After a period of quarantine, Niamh, Victoria, Goblin and Button are now enjoying their old home down at Skunkey.

We would like to introduce you to Sarah-Jane Smith who despite not having been to the VMF, has helped us on numerous occasions from afar. We are happy to announce that Sarah-Jane has taken on the voluntary role of VMF UK events co-ordinator outside of her working hours. It was a pleasure to meet both Sarah-Jane and her husband Nick at their Monkeyworld wedding in the UK and is wonderful to meet such special people both with a commitment to the care of primates.

Sarah-Jane's e-mail is croneysj@btinternet.com if you would like to help with any upcoming events, re-unions, fundraising in the UK or have any other ideas. Please also inform Sarah-Jane if you know of any festivals or fayres etc that may be worth having a stand at to help spread awareness about the VMF.

Thank you to all those who helped with the VMF stand at Vegfest in Bristol, UK including Sarah-Jane Smith, Sharon Clarke, Tim McSweeney, Claire Kelly and Suzannah Clamp. Despite the rainy weather, it was a success with many contacts made and awareness spread.

The next Festival the VMF will be at is the Bristol Festival of Nature on 18th & 19th June. The VMF vegetarian / vegan recipe book will be on sale for £10 and for first time volunteers we are offering 15% discount for anyone who signs up at the festival.

Bristol Festival of Nature - click here

We are seeing many monkeys killed or injured in road accidents, especially where there are blind corners and when people drive too fast. Humans & vehicles seem to be one of the vervets' biggest predators and dangers, especially after so much urbanisation has taken over their habitat. We often see many infants and juveniles left orphaned - their mums being killed by cars, luckily there are some who do survive such as little Mikey.

Mikey, a little juvenile was found in the road and brought to the VMF during May. He had a broken ankle and some wounds on his tail and rear. With the help of Hollie, Sophie & vet nurse Lacey, amongst volunteers who looked after him for a month, he has now been returned back with his troop in the wild and was pleased to see his family again.

It is always important that people know the exact location of where the monkey was found in case he or she can be returned to the wild as that is the best place for them. If we know the time of day and location, we can usually follow up where his or her troop are. Although some handling is necessary during recovery, it is kept to a minimum to ensure they still have their natural fear of humans which Mikey displayed when he returned back with his troop.

Volunteer Rob Tuppen is organising a VMF re-union and day visit to the Monkey sanctuary in Looe, Cornwall, UK see below:

Join the facebook events page - click here

Proposed schedule:-
* Travel to Plymouth (UK) on Saturday 20th Aug* meet at a pub for drinks / food etc... Saturday evening
* Stay overnight in Plymouth
* Go to The Monkey Sanctuary, Looe, Cornwall on Sunday 21st Aug
* Go home Sunday evening (some people may prefer to stay the Sunday night)

The new VMF vegetarian and vegan recipe books will also be on sale at the Monkey Sanctuary for a special offer of £10 each and they have a great veggie and vegan cafe there.

If you don't have facebook, you can e-mail Rob at:
rob@golden-dodo.com

Johan, Nhala, Hazel, Nicky, Milco, Frankie, Ruby have all moved up to the Dino & Daniel enclosure and they have started to meet the juveniles thanks to Hollie & Chris who have been ensuring the introductions go smoothly.

Alec, TJ, Grace, Irene, Mowgli, Luka and Laux are still in Disneyland and we hope to be able to introduce them into another troop in the near future.

All the orphans still need help with people adopting them to contribute towards their care and rehabilitation.

All of the above orphans can be adopted for as little as R300 ($45, 31 Euros, £28) each plus P&P. There is also an option of adding an extra contribution towards your monkey on a monthly basis or choosing the adoption pack as a gift for a friend or family member.

The adoption pack includes:
Adoption certificate
Photo of your adopted monkey
Fridge magnet of your adopted monkey
History of your adopted monkey
Volunteer poster
Postcard
6 month update with photo by e-mail
Option of adding a VMF vegetarian and vegan recipe book or a vervet soft toy to the pack for an additional R150 (£14, 15 Euros, $22)

Please e-mail josie@vervet.za.org if you would like to adopt a monkey or give an adoption as a gift and we will send you an adoption form to fill in and a list of profiles of the monkeys up for adoption for you to choose from.

Niamh O'Rourke, Franki Revell, Philippa Moffat, Alissa Kossar, Sarah Smith, Sjouke Schoustra, Kristen Diederich, Sacha Muller, Ross Bennett, Eric Heussner, Jean Willems, Emily Duncan, Bernie Price, Rachel de Guelle.