News from the sanctuaries

Will Tosca settle in with Thimone?

There was much excitment at the sanctuary when Tosca arrived. We had searched South Africa to find a companion for lonely Thimone and we all thought that Tosca would make the perfect mate.

Thimone, however was not impressed. The first thing she did, was attack him. Poor gentle Tosca was so scared of her that he hid in his box for hours on end and screamed every time she came near him. On the 14th May, one of the volunteers saw them sitting quietly within sight of each other - fingers crossed!

Girly recovers from seizure

Girly, our very elderly Bolivian Squirrel Monkey had a seizure on the 5th May 2010.

The vet has advised that we do not put her on medication for now and closely monitor her. Her cage mates, Honey and Bobby were very concerned about her and tried to revive her. The seizure lasted less that 30 seconds and she made a full recovery in less than half an hour.

Volunteer and stay with us during the FIFA World Cup

During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, IPR offers housing to volunteers at a daily rate. Full board and meals will be provided for £25 per volunteer per day at our Pretoria sanctuary. Please see our volunteer page for more information.

Squirrel Monkeys

Our three Squirrel monkeys, Honey, Bobby, and Girlie made the move to the Pretoria sanctuary on the 3rd December. They seem to be quite happy and are adjusting well to their new surroundings. Their new enclosures are very large (more than twice the size of their previous enclosures), filled with new enrichment and foliage. Honey, who currently has an enclosure to herself after the passing of her mate, Gillie, in August, will soon be receiving two new friends. One male and one female Squirrel monkey will arrive with the baboons in January and join Honey in her new home. See to the right, Honey exploring her new branches.

Anthony moves in

Baby marmoset Anthony, who was born on the 15th October and removed from his mother to be hand-reared due to his weak state, has now moved in with his foster parents, Gabbi and Gerry, at the new site in Pretoria. It was essential to his long-term psychological development that he be introduced to adult marmosets as early as possible. Although he was shy at first and a bit apprehensive to be carried by Gabbi or Gerry, he is now getting on with them well and enjoying their company. He spent his first full night with Gabbi and Gerry on the 1st December - we were so proud of him and are happy with his progress! See on the left, Anthony being bottlefed through the wires of his new enclosure.

Work on the new sanctuary in Pretoria going well

Work on the new sanctuary in Kromdraai, Pretoria North is going well. The property has a four bedroom house surrounded by 8.5 hectares of land with trees and a natural garden, together with a flat, a large workshop and other outbuildings. A large field at the back of the property will house the bigger primates, while the smaller inmates will occupy a field at the front of the house.

Volunteers from next month will be invited to go to this sanctuary as we are moving out of the site at Polokwane.

Jessie finds true love

Poor old Jessie was rejected by her family on Friday, as often happens in Marmosets families once off-spring (in this case foster off-spring) reach sexual maturity. She was introduced to a new monkey family and fell head over heels in love with one of the males in her new enclosure, Ticky. Her new man is quite besotted with her too. Fortunately, Ticky has had a vasectomy because they cannot keep their hands off each other. Jessie was three months old when she arrived at the sanctuary and was raised by foster Marmoset mom (Emily) and dad (Puma).

Nandipa's baby

Nandipa has been a very good first time mother, on Tuesday her baby came off her back and took its first steps. This allowed us to determine that he is a baby boy. One of our volunteers, Natasha, has been entrusted with naming the little fellow and has chosen to name him "Sonko " after her favourite football player. Births at the sanctuary are unusual as the male monkeys have vasectomies. However, Nandipa pulled a sneaky on on the sanctuary and fell pregnant before the vasectomies were performed.

To see the latest photographs of monkeys at our sanctuary, click here.