Hello! I am a student from Roehampton University London and am at CERCOPAN until June working on my Masters in Primatology. Everyone here has been exceptionally helpful and accommodating, this is my first time in Africa and I can’t imagine it without the support of a team like CERCOPAN. Since arriving exactly one month ago I have had the pleasure of spending time at both the Calabar site and Rhoko site. Both are distinctly different from each other and offer their own personal blend of Nigerian flavor.
Calabar is a true metropolis with restaurants, public transport and internet cafes. The people are a diverse mix-from those raised in Calabar or nearby villages to those from states other than Cross River State. No matter where they are from the people are always friendly and have been teaching me different words and phrases in Ibo, Efik, and Akwa Ibom – 3 of the over 200 languages spoken in the Cross River State alone. Often while I am observing the mangabeys at the Calabar site I am approached by local people who have come to visit CERCOPAN. A few days ago a 13-year-old boy was asking me all about the monkeys – their names, what they were doing, what I was doing. After explaining all of it to him he told me he would like to go to the UK as well – like me. “That’s great I told him”, you’ll have to work very hard though – UK is very expensive; He then basically told me this wouldn’t be a problem as he would bring his sheep with him and that would (clearly) cover any expenses he might encounter. Conversations like these are just one of the many reasons I am thoroughly enjoying my time here in Nigeria. Rhoko is a truly different experience as CERCOPAN’s “Bush Site” it really is like taking a trip to the country after the hustle and bustle of Calabar. Everything slows down and instead of falling asleep to the sound of motorbikes passing I drift off to the majestic sounds of the forest with crickets, hirrax and frog noises. The people here are from CERCOPAN host community of Iko Esai and could not be more welcoming everyone knows my name and greets me enthusiastically despite the fact I have only been here a week. Each time I visit the keepers I am practically forced to feed plantains in an overwhelming gesture of hospitality that I have yet to witness in any other country. My cultural experiences in Nigeria have far exceeded any expectations I had before arriving yet almost pale when compared to the monkeys I have met here at CERCOPAN - they continue to amaze me.
My Masters Project comprises of stress levels among the mangabeys at Calabar (in traditional cage enclosures) and those at Rhoko (in their large natural enclosure). Having the 2 sites is a unique opportunity and makes CERCOPAN an ideal place to conduct research. My first impression of the mangabeys here is how they are surprisingly resilient. To be separated from their mothers so young is a textbook indicator of low survival rate, slower growth rate and depression. However, thanks to CERCOPAN, these mangabeys not only have survived but have thriving in normal, healthy social groups! Talk about beating the odds.
While in Calabar and Rhoko may diverge in cultural feel, the uplifting message brought to both by CERCOPAN is constant. When I first moved from the US, to London to begin my Masters Program I knew I wanted to do a project at a primate sanctuary but hadn’t a clue which one. I now consider myself very fortunate to have chosen CERCOPAN because – although have only been here a month – it is clear that CERCOPAN’s involvement in the community and dedication to rainforest conservation, primate conservation are what make it such a success.
We must apologise for the tardiness of this blog. We have had rather a hectic month; our Director came to visit to check on the release group, our bush site manager went on a well deserved break to the UK and then Claire went to Sierra Leone to attend a conference and is now in the bush. In addition our office internet has been down for a month! So I, Heather MacIntosh (the vet nurse), am writing about my babies in her absence.
There have been moves afoot in quarantine and not before time. Sageno, one of the four Putty Nosed has just learnt to take the open padlock off the latch and gain her freedom. She never went far, just around the outside and she always comes to me so she was never in any danger of being escaped for long. It was thought therefore that it was high time the group graduated into the big enclosure. So we introduced them to their new bigger brothers, Cross and Regiy, and their new surrogate grandmother, Nkanacha. Nkanacha has already had experience of boisterous babies Cross and Regiy, when they were introduced to her at just over one year old. Nkanacha has therefore taken to the new 4 Puttys like an old hand. Some of the clan are just a little unsure of the move however. Whenever Nkanacha tries to groom Akampka (the smallest of the babies) he doesn’t quite know what is happening and struggles to get away.
Sageno, the biggest of the four, has always been the confident top dog. This changed when she met Cross and Regiy. The other 3 played and explored but Sageno was suddenly confronted with two curious bigger Puttys and she was scared. She screamed if they came near and hugged the walls of the enclosure and sought comfort from my grooming. It has taken a few days but she has finally realised that they mean her no harm and can even provide her with playmates for her bouncy Putty games.
Their move produced a space in one of our bigger quarantine cages. The choice was an obvious one of who had to move in there. Mickey (a Red Eared) and Big Qua (a Mona) had for the past few days been gaining skills at breaking and exiting. For months they were happy to bounce around their nursery cage but recently they had gained the confidence to explore. Big Qua always stayed close to the cage but Mickey was a lot more adventurous and used to make her way to an enclosure that has our baby Monas, including Netim, in it. However, once there she realised she didn’t know where she was nor what she should do I used to hear her high pitched trill distress call, go to where she was, hold out my hand and wait patiently for her to come to me. Once back at the nursery cage she jumped right back in and Big Qua followed. So these two were the obvious choice to move into the bigger cage. They have been joined by another mixed Red Eared/Mona pair, Biggy and Sandra (Sonic). All have settled in and there have been no breakouts since.
Our Mangabey orphans Abonema and Murphy have been joined by a sister, Osuwake, which means victory. They were introduced to each other gradually so she had time to adjust to a larger male Mangabey. At first she was unsure but gradually gained confidence and readily went to him to be groomed and prodded. Now that they have been properly introduced he largely ignores her but sometimes he can be a bit rough with her like all older brothers can be. She has learnt to scream really loudly to put him off and she has an escape route into the cage next door where he can’t follow. Murphy treats her as a playmate although, like two small children, they have their quarrels that escalate into screaming matches, which funnily enough usually happens around milk feeding time.
And we have another new Mona, Action, who was donated to us a few weeks ago. He had a belt tied round his waist to prevent him from going anywhere and the fur underneath had fallen out. He has undergone initial quarantine tests and has joined JB, another Mona. He is happy playing in the space without the shackle of the belt and his fur has started growing back.
So as you can see our quarantine babies have been busy and keeping US busy in the process. I am leaving to go back home next week and will sorely miss all my babies and their antics.
Whenever I try to explain my address to one of the many bike taxi’s in Calabar, I simply have to say “Dat monkey place” and the driver immediately knows exactly where to take me. In the local area we are definitely best known for our monkey rehabilitation and education work, but people are less aware that we also protect prime rainforest habitat. Protecting rainforest in Cross River is vital, not only to preserve the immense biodiversity of the region, but also to safeguard the livelihoods of human populations.
In communities such as Iko Esai, that are heavily dependent on the forest for survival, conversion can have devastating consequences, particularly for the poorest families. As such residents are working with CERCOPAN to develop and implement a Land Use Management Plan (LUMP) to conserve their forest for both immediate use and the benefit of future generations. The 12,000 hectare forest area is home to elephant, red river hog, drill monkeys, bushbabies, guenons, buffalo and Situnga among many other species both large and small. In fact, only a few weeks ago I almost tripped over a Pangolin whilst using the light from a mobile phone to sleepily navigate my way to the camp toilet!
The Iko Esai Land Use Management Plan includes 4 zones; a core area (400ha), research area (2600ha), conservation area (12,000ha) and a sustainable management (for local timber extraction)/farming zone (approximately 8000ha). Whilst non timber forest products such as bush mango and snails can be collected in the research and conservation areas, all forms of exploitation in the core area are prohibited. This policy is upheld by Esira, Igwe, Obun and Gabriel, who patrol the area on a shift basis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each member of the patrol team was once an Iko Esai hunter who has been re-trained by CERCOPAN to protect the very species that he once sought to kill.
It is very rare that hunters enter the core area, but even if they simply pass through, the chiefs council takes the matter very seriously. In fact, the last person caught walking within the core at night was fined two bunches of plantain, one crate of beer, two bottles of local gin and a goat! The monkey hunting ban is taken even more seriously as you can hear from the clipping from a speech made by the traditional ruler of Iko Esai that I have included below. Thankfully, not a single person has been found hunting or in possession of a dead monkey since the onset of the ban in 2006. chief-owai.mov
In the future, we hope to develop similar agreements with the communities immediately neighbouring Iko Esai. This move would offer the potential to protect over 40,000 ha of habitat bordering the entire western flank of the Cross River National park. The National Park is home to over 199 species, including Leopard, Chimpanzee and the most endangered of all African primates; the Cross River Gorilla. By providing a buffer to the park we would effectively help to protect all of these species and to maintain the integrity of this globally important conservation area.
Here is a blog written by Sagan Friant, a volunteer working on Mangabey research at Rhoko camp. At day break I grab a quick cup of instant coffee and make my way downhill from camp and soon begin to hear the loud whoop-gobble call the adult male mangabeys use to announce their territory. The red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus torquatus) at Rhoko live in a 1 hectare enclosure within the forest and are all considered potential future release candidates. Back in 2003, 18 animals (3 adult males, 2 adolescent males, 7 females, 5 juveniles, 1 infant) were selected to be moved to the enclosure, on the basis of history, behaviour and health screening all conducted at CERCOPAN headquarters. Since I completed my masters research here in the summer of 2007, the mangabey population has experienced 9 births and the population has now reached 40 individuals!
Though they are provisioned, it only takes a few hours within the enclosure to realize how close to being wild these monkeys have become. The mangabeys are true opportunistic ominivores. In just a week, I have witnessed them feeding on a wide diversity of foods found within the enclosure. Along with the typical leaves and fruits, we have observed mangabeys digging for roots of plants and biting bark off the sides of certain trees. Many of the plants within the enclosure have local medicinal uses, which may be exploited by the mangabeys. Eno, one of the keepers directed me to a tree which the mangabeys were feeding on called ‘debrabure’, and explained that it is used in the village to increase fertility. Perhaps this explains the booming population! The mangabeys do not stop with plant matter however, as we have also observed them digging for ants, pounding termite nests in an attempt to break them open, and discovering and consuming lizard eggs. When they are not foraging, these incredibly social monkeys spend much of the day grooming and playing. Over fifty percent of the population is juvenile, and these youngsters frequently wreak havoc throughout the enclosure chasing one another from tree to tree and swinging on lianas. Such roguish behaviors are not limited solely to the younger generations however, as adult and sub-adult males are quite active in their continuous attempts to maintain or improve their position within the hierarchy.
Akposi, a research assistant from Iko Esai, has been observing this population since they arrived to the enclosure in 2004. He knows the mangabeys very well, and has been helping me to recognize all forty individuals- no easy task! Together, we hope to use the past years of observations to learn more about the behavioral ecology of the red-capped mangabey, a species which has been under-studied relative to other primate taxa. Additionally, at CERCOPAN we hope to identify which animals (as an individual and a group) are most suited for release back into the wild. Prime candidates will be those that exhibit the most ‘natural’ behaviors and whose family is well represented within the Rhoko group. Once selected, the proposed animals will require further veterinary screening, and with governmental and local permissions and adequate protection, we hope that these mangabeys can then become wild. Ultimately, we hope that the local forest will be home to completely free-ranging mangabeys that can be studied long term within their natural habitat.
Another day, another baby, this time confiscated with assistance from the local authorities. The third Mangabey we have brought to CERCOPAN since December, but this time a female and a very demanding one at that! One of our keepers Austin was visiting Marion market on his day off and saw the baby for sale in a dirty cage surrounded by people and chickens. As soon as he informed Jerry and Uche about the baby’s location they decided that trying to reason with a trader in a crowded venue would be futile and that the only way to take this animal would be to do so by force. They also reasoned that being accompanied by the authorities had the added advantage that it would allow us to make a public example of the trader, therefore discouraging others market vendors to sell monkeys in the future.
The confiscation, despite considerable protest from the owners was over very quickly and the baby was brought back to CERCOPAN HQ. She seems very happy in her new home, but is proving to be an absolute handful; pulling hair, prising open and attempting to lick people’s eyelids, screaming as loudly as possible whenever she is put back into her enclosure and literally destroying anything accidentally left within her reach. As one of her primary carers at the moment, I will be very relieved when we integrate her into a group with Abonema and Murphy!
The arrival of yet another new monkey leaves us with a serious problem. Quarantine is almost full, our enclosures are at maximum capacity and if monkeys continue to arrive at the same rate as in recent weeks, we will very soon have nowhere to put them. Turning animals away would be seriously detrimental, not only to the monkeys themselves, but also to our education programme. Indeed, it would create additional problems informing people that they should not keep monkeys and that doing so is illegal if we are then unable to give any option of a safe place to hand in the primates they may already own. It therefore seems that our best option may be to extend our current animal accommodation and begin building new enclosures. Given the financial and space implications of such a project however, this is an avenue that will require considerable thought and planning before making the decision to go ahead.
Last week CERCOPAN began the 2008 education outreach programme in urban schools in and around Calabar. Jerry started the education programme in 1997 and in its 11th year it is more popular than ever. Over the next 6 months he will visit two schools daily, each for approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, lecturing on the topic “Wildlife protection, the forest and climate change”. There are 80-100 children in each class and as he hopes to visit between 50 and 70 schools, this means that he will effectively reach out to over 5000 children.
During his talk, Jerry explains CERCOPAN’s role in protecting monkeys and their forest habitat, the importance and interactions between wildlife and the forest, why monkeys do not make good pets and the benefits and functions of tropical rainforest to society. At the end of his presentation, every child is provided with a handout that they can take home and use to persuade others to change their attitudes towards wildlife. Furthermore, as a follow up, teachers from each school are requested to repeatedly reinforce the message that students should not keep monkeys as pets and that they should choose wisely whenever they opt to consume bushmeat.
In 2007 Jerry won the Charles Southwick Conservation Education Commitment award, which he will collect at the International Primate Society congress in Edinburgh this year. We are all extremely proud of Jerry and are very pleased that his years of hard work and utter dedication have been recognized. As part of the prize, Jerry was given a cash reward to be spent on any aspect of the education programme that he considered appropriate. Always keen to motivate and reward the children, Jerry decided to use this prize to purchase trophies that were presented to schools at our 2007 World Environment Day rally. The rally was attended by thousands of children and involved a parade, school inspections, essay contest, carnival and drama competition, all related to wildlife and environmental protection. The rally is held every other year and will next take place in July 2009, yet Jerry is already making plans and is determined it will be bigger and better than ever!
CERCOPAN would once again like to say a big thank you to Theresa S and Cathy R for your kind donations. Your support is very much appreciated and still much needed as new animals continue to arrive almost weekly. I will be heading up to Rhoko today, but will post an update on Peck and events in the bush when I return. Also, some good news for you this morning, as I was writing this message I have just been informed that one of our female Mangabeys, “Quality” has given birth. The baby is healthy and doing well.
It seems that no sooner we manage to find space in quarantine for one monkey, another one arrives. Last Wednesday morning we heard about a baby Putty whose owner was looking to sell the animal. I waited for Jerry to return from one of his school visits and then the two of us headed out to the man’s home, armed with education leaflets and a travel box.
We arrived to find the baby in a poor state; wet, muddy, covered in faeces and tethered so tightly that she was unable to move more than a few centimetres. Indeed, the cord around the baby’s middle was restricting her bladder to such an extent that she was urinating almost constantly. Unfortunately, the owner of the animal was not on the premises and therefore Jerry had no choice but to try to negotiate her release over the phone. Despite lengthy discussion, the man was absolutely adamant that we could not take the Putty without a face to face meeting.
Obviously I was not happy leaving the monkey tethered for even a few hours, so despite protests from the staff on site, we cut the cord and transferred her to the travel box. I had no option other than to leave, but the guilt I felt all the way to CERCOPAN was almost overpowering and it took every ounce of strength not to simply rush back and rescue her. I knew our actions were for the best however, as when we are able to educate the owners and they hand over an animal willingly, they are generally less likely to replace it with another in the future.
Jerry returned later that evening but the man was not on site and his staff asked Jerry to be there the following day at 6am. At 6am the owner spoke to Jerry, accepted the educational material and requested that he be able to consult his lawyer before handing over the animal. After speaking to his lawyer and another visit from Jerry, the man subsequently demanded that he be given the opportunity to visit CERCOPAN before making any decisions (although he was not free to do so in the near future due to time constraints). Jerry travelled to his house again and again, leaving home at 5am in an attempt to catch the man before work, returning during the day hoping the he may be there for lunch and even checking back on his way home at night. Despite phone call after phone call we were no closer to rescuing the baby monkey, but at least the trips were allowing us to ensure that she had both food and water.
Finally, on Saturday morning Jerry and I made the difficult decision that should we fail to confiscate the baby by the end of the day, we would return first thing on Monday morning with the authorities to take her by force. At 1pm Jerry, Uche and myself arrived at the house, only to find that once again the owner was not at home. After several phone calls, we were asked to return at 5pm and when we did, we were told that the man was asleep and could not be disturbed. At 5.30 we all finally gave up and went home for dinner, but before I had a chance to put a pot on the stove, Jerry rang to inform me that the owner had requested we return. Once we were finally able to meet and talk with the man inside his home, it became very apparent that he had a great deal of concern for his pet and simply wanted to make sure that we would be taking her somewhere suitable. He had bought the Putty from one of his staff who had shot her mother for meat, but due to the nature of his job he was rarely at home and had been forced to leave her in the care of others. Over an hour of questions followed and just after 7.15pm we drove out of his gate with the baby and firm promises that the owner would discourage his staff and colleagues from keeping and/or shooting monkeys.
Back at CERCOPAN, volunteer Sagan helped me to give the baby a bath, clean out the travel box and prepare fruit and milk. I returned home exhausted, but with a real feeling of achievement, with persistence, determination and extremely dedicated staff anything really is possible.
After a week observing Abonema and Murphy in adjacent quarantine enclosures, we finally placed them together on Monday, and as you can see they are already inseparable. Indeed, Murphy spends most of his time clinging to Abonemas chest or riding on his back.
Unfortunately, no matter how close the two male Managabeys have become, food is still their number one priority and as a result we are being forced to find more and more ingenious ways to prevent Abonema stealing all of Murphy’s milk. Generally with patience, cunning and well timed ‘food bribery’ however, we can lure Abonema into another enclosure to allow Murphy enough time to drink his bottle in peace. The two will now remain together in quarantine until Murphy has competed his full three months and then we will have the complex process of trying to integrate them into a suitable social group.
I have just received some reports and photographs from the bush so thought I would post a quick update on the progress of our release group. Three months after the release of the Bebi, July and Nko, we have not lost any individuals, the group has remained in the area planned to be their home-range, no major health problems have been noted and the radio tracking equipment is still functioning. Since the beginning, the three animals have stayed together as a group, with July leading and protecting the others from any potential threats. Indeed, July has been observed chasing red eared monkeys on two occasions, when they entered the same crown as the group. July has also been observed copulating with Bebi on two occasions, although these are certainly more social mounts, given the weak probability of Bebi being receptive.
So far, the group has remained inside the Core Area, with no single foray into the research area, community forest, or main camp. Using a grid system established inside the forest on the release site, we have been able to measure and assess the size of home-range in addition to the daily travel length. The approximate home-range size is now between 7 and 8 ha, and the daily length range is 750m. The 2 first months were characterized by a smaller home-range size and daily length range (2.5 ha for 350m per day), since the group was located in part of the forest rich in food resources, especially fruits. Since the production of their top 3 food species decreased, and we have been able to discern a noticeable increase in time spent travelling.
Food provisioning is still carried out, but with a process of progressive decrease in the provided amount. During the two first weeks after the release, we supplied the group with food twice a day, once in the morning and again in the late afternoon. We then decreased the provisioning to once a day, usually in the beginning of the afternoon as we observed that the group could find enough food and fruit on their own. Since the beginning of January 2008 however, food is provided only once every two or three days. This new reduction should allow the group to become more independent, and to reduce human/monkey interactions.
The group tend to spend the early morning and end afternoon in the upper stratum of the forest, with more time in the lower layers/on the ground in the middle of the day. They own several sleeping trees they leave in the morning and that constitute central points around which they travel during the day. The Monas often follow the stream close to the release enclosure, walking in the water or on the banks, jumping from roots to trunks and foraging in the water on arthropods. Surprisingly, the largest percentage of time spent foraging is actually on arthropods, with fruits and seeds forming the second main food category.
July and Nko following the stream We are all delighted that the Monas are doing well and that they have adapted so readily to life in the wild. Working at CERCOPAN can be emotionally draining at times, watching animals that have been poorly treated entering our gates day after day and losing animals that we have worked so hard to save. Nevertheless, watching the footage of our newly wild Mona’s makes everything else we endure worthwhile. Not only does it mark a second chance for Bebi, Nko and July, but it also fills us with hope for all of the other monkeys that we will one day follow them.
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