2012 brings a year of promise - a promise to the monkeys that can be released into the wild will be released. One of the Foundation's goals this year is to secure a release site and plan ahead for a release of a troop to take place in early 2013. There is a lot of planning involved in releasing a troop of vervets and all is to be considered very carefully from choosing the right location, correct vegetation, ensuring there is water, what other animals are there, monitoring of the release and much more.

A big thank you must go to everyone who took part and sponsored those doing The Veggie / Vegan Challenge 2011. This has so far raised an amazing R50,000, we still have more funds to come as a few people started the challenge later on. The staff winner to raise the most amount of money for the challenge was Hillary Brown who raised over R6400 which means artist and volunteer Robin Huffman has kindly said she will paint a picture of a monkey of her choice. We are looking for driven proactive fundraising people to help us secure a release site this year with a target figure to reach of a minimum of R150,000.

Our 2012 Year End Report will be available for all to read next month. One exciting thing that happened last month before Christmas was that the DIno & Daniel integration of the juveniles was completed and they are now living full time in the enclosure which means there are now a total of 24 monkeys in the enclosure with ex-pet Francis and adult male Global still to be integrated.

All 3 orphans who arrived in 2011 are living with monkey foster mums and are able to live a nearly normal life in an enclosure with a troop.

We have had 4 monkeys arrive this month - two of them being 1yr old female Ricky & sub-adult male Jamba. They are currently in quarantine and have had health checks before we can put them with other monkeys. Lacey & Ellie have been looking after them well - more to come on them next month.

Two more orphans arrived this month - Orchid (named by volunteer Jenny Godwin) and Lil Elg (named by volunteer Ian Harryman). Dave saw someone holding Orchid in Checkers supermarket and therefore quickly confiscated her, whilst Lil Elg was also confiscated from a member of the public and brought to us. We hope to be able to introduce both of them to Gismo Troop with foster mums shortly.

We say a sad farewell to Chris Osborne this month who became part of the management team and an important part of the daily running of the centre. Chris was only intending to return as a volunteer for 6 months but had a lot of skills to offer and felt his time here wasn't done. Chris will be heading back to New Zealand this week & we would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his dedication, organisation, enthusiasm and his fantastic education skills used with the schools last year. He will be greatly missed, his wife (Assistant Manager Hollie Vercoe) will continue here to ensure everything runs smooth before her departure later in the year.

Lauriane Favez, Peter Ward, Laura McCarthy, Matthias Bostrum, Cora Lee Mcdonald, Laura Lupton, Damien Tournaire.

Welcome back:
Dawn Patrick, Joyce van der Wateren, Gabrielle Bertrand, Steve Irving

If you are interested in any of the voluntary positons below for 2012, please e-mail josie@vervet.za.org and we will send you a job description. Please only apply if you are truly dedicated and committed.

All positions are voluntary and we therefore provide basic cabin accommodation, laundry and vegetarian / vegan meals. Dependant on length of stay, a small stipend may be possible if you are considering long term.

• Veterinary nurse or human nurse - needed for immediate start to look after meds, monitoring health of monkeys, faecal sample analysis, administering injections, de-worming, cleaning of wounds, critical care etc. (Min 1 yr, preferably long term)
  
  
• Volunteer Co-ordinator - needed from June to ensure the smooth running of the centre relating to all aspects regarding volunteers including welcoming orientations, rota and much more. (Min 18 months, preferably long term)
  
  
• Driver - needed for immediate start to collect monkey food, volunteers, fetch water, shopping etc (Min 6 months or more)
  
  
• Primate Carers x 2 - needed for Bottom & Middle Section to start July. Involves supervising volunteers, being responsible of all aspects of the monkeys in your care.
  
  
• Integration staff - this role is only for those that have been here previously and are dedicated to the rehabilitation of the monkeys (this can be long hours and a lot of sitting outside enclosures with observations so is only for the patient and those with an understanding of vervet behaviour.)
  
  
• Chef / Cook - to cook healthy Vegan meals for all staff and volunteers (between 15-40 people), this role can be flexible if you have other skills also.
  
  
• Education Officer / Fundraiser - this can be combined with the above roles dependant on applicants.

Please note all these roles involve living in a close knit community with changing volunteers as they are the lifeblood of the Foundation.

It has been a long time coming, but it brings me great pleasure to finally be able to say, that the Dino and Daniel babies are now integrated. Wow! Some of you may be sitting there reading this, scratching your heads in confusion and disbelief and you may be forgiven on the basis of all the trials and speed bumps we have hit along the way. But the fact remains; we have now successfully integrated our 7 one year olds; Frankie, Johan, Hazel, Nicky, Milco, Ruby and Nhala along with Jupiter and Honeybear into the troop.
In traditional Dino and Daniel style, the integration was not without a few surprises. Not many of us, or you readers, would have guessed that Hazel would have thrived as fully as she has. Whilst all babies are doing exceptionally well, Hazel is heads and shoulders above the others in terms of her confidence, troop interactions and general troop monkey skills. Nicky also figured things out very quickly, learning to remain calm and quiet around the high rankers; she is now often seen foraging confidently on her own and even grooms Mistletoe.

The older troop members have also behaved very well. Mistletoe was firm for much of the first day, but has since relaxed and now spends time grooming and even hugging the babies. Mamba, Skollie and Forest spend time playing with Frankie, Johan and Milco. However, if I was to hand out prizes for the ‘best older brother or sister’ then Chane and Phylis would win by a mile. They have been excellent, playing, grooming and comforting the babies when they are upset.

The troop is now stable and the babies are slowly growing in confidence. We were initially concerned that they might stay together as a bit of gang within a troop, but as the days pass and their confidence increases they are progressively spending longer periods away from each other, intermixing with various troop members. However, it is still nice to see that they maintain their old friendships; Nicky and Milco spend time foraging together, Johan and Hazel still seek each other out for comfort and sleep together in the trees at night, Ruby and Nhala are often close to each other also grooming each other or a junior.

Honeybear and Jupiter have also thrived. Jupiter, the perfect politician, figured out the social hierarchy fairly quickly and is often seen smooching up to Jessie or Mistletoe; no one can deny that she is one very smart monkey. Honeybear spends long periods away from the babies, foraging and enjoying her time in an enclosure, which is great to see. However, she always comes back, particularly in the early morning or late in the evening to spend time foraging amongst the group.

All and all, the final process went better than we had initially hoped for. Having known the babies from such a young age, it is wonderful to see them jumping through the trees and living in a troop. Thank you to everyone who spent time integrating and observing these babies, your reward is their happiness.

Ayla, our second orphan of the season has been successfully integrated into Sickbay enclosure with the alpha female, Pippa as her adoptive mum.
Ayla arrived at the foundation mid November at 1-2 weeks old. We were advised that she had been brought into the house by dogs on a banana plantation. When she arrived she knew that her milk came from a bottle going to her bottle to scratch at it when thirsty. However, the next 4 weeks we were challenged with actually getting Ayla to willingly go to her bottle once it had been connected to her feeding station cage. She could not be given to a monkey mum until she had mastered the art of going into her feeding cage via a small hole and actually drinking her milk.

During this training period Ayla spent hours each day spending time with the troop of Sickbay. She would play on one side of the fence while they all reached out through the fence to desperately touch her. Chico showed immediate interest in Ayla. Always running to the fence with Spiegel by her side she would call to Ayla, lipsmack and then groom her. It wasn’t long before Ayla was comfortable and lie still while Chico would examine her eyeballs. Spiegel and Ayla also loved this time to play with each other, despite having to be on opposite sides of the fence.

Last week, once Ayla had her feeding cage aced, she was put into an intro cage with Chico and Spiegel. Chico immediately reached out for Ayla, hugging her and enthusiastically lipsmacking. It was quite clear that she couldn’t believe her luck in getting given two babies in one season! The next four hours entailed Ayla and Spiegel dancing around each other, frog hopping and running lengths of the cage trying to catch each other. It was truly amazing to see them so happy to be reunited. This was a little frustrating for Chico however, who spent this time trying to catch Ayla as she flew past in order to give her a quick cuddle before Ayla squirmed away again to chase Spiegel.

Later in the afternoon Pippa was introduced into the cage to see if she would adopt Ayla as her own. She instantly stepped in as Ayla’s mum and Chico stepped back. With her confident nature, Ayla was content at this change and also allowed each Mum to concentrate on caring for one baby each.
During this past week we have seen Pippa become a very caring and dedicated mum to Ayla. If Ayla cries out in fright, Pippa runs to her side to comfort her. She carries Ayla around with her and patiently sits still while Ayla frog jumps all over her face, pulling at her brow and cheeks. Although each primarily has their own baby, both Pippa and Chico make an amazing team, both caring for and playing with Spiegel and Ayla and both orphans love each of them.

Just one week after the introduction, Ayla, Pippa, Spiegel and Chico spend their days out in the enclosure also spending the nights in the trees. Ayla is confident with all members of the troop, climbing all over the other females of the troop, allowing them to carry her away for hours at a time and also jumping over the alpha male's (Legolas) face trying to engage play!

This has been an amazing integration, It is such a delight seeing Ayla so happy living where she belongs….with a troop of monkeys to call her own. 

Hollie Vercoe took the video (edited by Dave) below of foster mum Chico & orphan Spiegel to show a normal life orphans can lead if they are brought to us soon enough. Both Spiegel and another orphan Ayla are now living full time in Sickbay enclosure with a troop.

Click here to watch video of Chico & Spiegel

Please do post on blogs, facebook and share with others.

Thank you this month to:
Candace Cotter – donated 2 tins of babymilk
Steve – kettle for sickbay, grapefruit, jug, donation
Viviene Steinbock – donated a tin of babymilk in honor of previous volunteer Rachael Steinbock
Sal Curreri
Janet King
Steritech – 2 x 5l bottles of vetguard
Nicole Dimond
Pearl & Megan – Bottles
Arlene Brahm
Jax Woolterton – donated some lentils for the monkeys
Diana Grove – lentils
Jo Rook – tin of babymilk
Joyce van Wateren – baby bottles, bunnybottles
Gabi Bertrand – medical supplies
Ginny Labuschagne

Green Award
This month we have also received a donation from RSA Insurance through our UK Event Coordinator Sarah Jane Smith.

During May and June of this year RSA ran a fund-raising "Arctic"challenge across their worldwide businesses, offering their staff the chance to aim for a visit to the Arctic with WWF to view Polar Bears in the wild.
Although they didn't make it to see the Bears, Sarah Jane's team finished in top place for her division and were each presented with a £200 green award for their efforts.

Turning down the award for herself, Sarah Jane requested that the donation be made direct to VMF to support our ongoing efforts. A donation of £100 was made directly, with an additional £100 in vouchers provided to assist in restocking our core medical equipment following the fire. As you are aware Sarah Jane and Nick have used the £100 directly toward Spiegel's care and have adopted him for life and we would like to thank RSA for supporting Sarah Jane's efforts as she in turn contributes to the vital work that we do here for the vervets.

For those who would still like to donate, please click here & e-mail josie@vervet.za.org to specify if the donation is towards the release site or a general donation for the monkeys.

Click here to donate

Click here to view the VMF online shop - purchase 2012 calendars for half price

New fridge magnets available this month at just R25 each:

Chico & Spiegel

Ghosty

Thank you to all those volunteers who got involved in the 2011 UK events.

VMF will be holding stands at the following events in UK this year: (More dates to come later)

Saturday 4th February 2012:
Viva - The Incredible Veggie Roadshow, The Guildhall, Market Square, Cambridge 10.30am – 4pm

click here for more info on the Roadshow

17th & 18th March 2012:
VegFest, Brighton

26th & 27th May 2012:
VegFest, Bristol

Click here to view more info on the VegFests

15th-17th June 2012:
Bristol Festival of Nature

Click here for more info on the Festival of Nature

If you are able to help with any of them, please contact Sarah-Jane Smith (UK Events Co-ordinator) ukevents@vervet.za.org

Nicole Leandro, Dawn Puttock (return), Till Welnitz, Katherine Mary Richardson, Alex Lewin, Sarah Ludlam, Remi Brissaud, Gina Swain, Cat Collins, Federica Cabella, Mikaela Papas, Elise Olivier-Wong, Pearl Lee, Megan Vacarello, Manon Demodice, Liza Black, Nicole Dimond, Chris Osborne.