It has been a busy month at EV in which even Douwe and Geiler got to join in the feeding-tours. Rainy season is in full swing, but luckily the mosquito population has decreased.
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Monkeys
Nera (female adult capuchin) gave birth this month to a healthy baby, of which the gender is still unknown.
Milana, the baby of Mica is growing fast, and has even been seen carried by the alpha male Maku, which is not an ordinary thing within capuchins.
It is amazing to walk outside at EV and see all these monkeys of different species swinging through the trees. We now have 14 brown capuchins, 2 white-fronted capuchins, 12 woolly monkeys, 4 howler monkeys, 3 spider monkeys and 1 night monkey. So far they all get along well.
Of course there are some quarrels but our ‘king’ Kamari (alpha male woolly monkey) has it all under control. The three howler monkeys, Darwin, Cesar, and Kaya (only female) are doing well within the group. They are outside during the day and sleep at night in the Roko-cage. There they are joined by Mayantu (female young brown capuchin) at night. All four happily in a sleeping box! The now young night monkey Luna (female) has been moved to an outside cage to get acquainted with the outside monkeys.
Sira (our outside female night monkey) has been visiting her already. Otis, the young male is still being kept at the family house but is brought daily to spend some time with Luna, till he moves around confident enough to join her full time.
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Other Mammals
We hardly every mention them but our peccaries Quintisha, Kohana and Timo, are doing well. We tried moving them to the Rincay-enclosure, so we could move Ringo (male deer) to theirs, but they wouldn’t have it. They are strong willed and are very capable of digging under the fence to get back to their own enclosure! So for now we have given up trying, and Ringo stays (temporarily) in the enclosure surrounding the family house.
Rabito (male deer) is doing fine in the deer enclosure. Unfortunately he still copes with a skin problem, so we decide to stall the introduction of Ringo for now.
Ruena (female tayra) was moved to the Zambo-cage, and has been taken on her first walk outside with Douwe to get to know the forest.
After a full recovery and gaining sufficient weight, Lulu (female two-toed sloth) has been released again.
Kila and Kiko (female and male kinkajous) have been released again, and so far so good. We found out that Kila has been in a fight with an adult wild female, and we just hope that at some point they come to an understanding!
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Birds
Neo (orange winged amazon) has found the company of the two white-eyed parakeets (one of them a well-known bird named Pichu) in the non-flyer cage (IGOR). For some time there was a white-eyed parakeet on the outside. We assume this is one of a group which we released more than a year ago, and decide to visit his old friends.
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SUST Animal Orphan Hospital
With the three howler monkeys, Darwin, Cesar, and Kaya having moved out, as well as Ruena and Lulu gone, the clinic has been quiet for a while. However even with most of the cages empty in is still always busy enough at the clinic. Milk is being prepared and distributed from there, faeces samples are being examined, and a general deworming of all outside monkeys has been carried out.
New young Ronya (female brown capuchin baby) has been moved permanently to a small cage in the clinic, and is taken on daily walks through the forest.
For a week we closed in Samara, Uma and Maruja. Especially Samara had several botflies and lost a lot of weight. All three were treated for Prosthenorchis Elegans, a parasite that regularly causes health problems and is very difficult to get rid of.
Donna Simmons (an Australian veterinarian and old friend) came back for a visit, and together with Douwe and Janneke (our student volunteer) they performed several castrations of dogs in the village. Several families from the village have been asking for our help, so as soon as Donna arrived we put her skills to good use. We set up an operation table in our building in the village. Thank you Donna for doing a great job!
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New Arrivals at the Hospital
One new arrival this month was Koru, a purple gallinule or purple swamphen. It is very young and still has baby feathers, so it was taken in at the family house for intensive care. After a week he or she was already eating on their own and could be moved to the clinic.