Out and About with Silke

We take you out and about with premier primate rehabber Silke at Bambelela.

This week

The beginning of this week continued focus on the injured monkey that was taken into care by Bamebelela, after she had been shocked by a power transformer. Sana-Kariba appeared to be feeling much stronger, but there was still a 50/50 chance of saving her arm from amputation.

The team took her to the vet in order to allow him to determine the best outcome for this little girl, and very sadly it was decided she should be put down. The burns she had received were too serious, and amputation would not have guaranteed her survival. At the same time, the electricity had caused damaged to her muscles and vessels, causing her extreme pain and suffering.

A devastating situation such as this illustrates the deadly danger these transformers pose, not just to monkeys but on children and other animals. It is therefore extremely important to discover a way to overcome this problem in order to avoid such a heartbreaking outcome.

After such an emotional start to the week, the team decided to lift the spirits by hosting their first ever male and female beauty pageant. This involved volunteer donations to each monkey, and the monkeys with the most votes/donations towards its name would be crowned the winner. The donations provided by such a fun event enables the team to continue providing care to the monkeys, ensuring each monkey lives the free life they are entitled to. Results of the pageant will be announced in next weeks blog, but with a whopping 285 votes, Liam-Linus-Tatum appears to be in the lead!

The team received a fright this week as lightening had caused a fire to spread amongst the trees at the monkeys’ site, but luckily the rain put the fire out. All appeared to be fine with the monkeys, but this is just another example of the type of problems the team at Bambelela faces.

The team also paid a visit to one of the troops at Matlabas, who have been living in freedom for 16 months now. The visit allowed the team to monitor the monkeys and their site, ensuring everything is running smoothly. Silke was greeted by Shani, introducing her to her new baby, born into freedom. A truly beautiful moment.