Monkeying around could cost the lives of nearly 50 monkeys
The IPR saved 50 monkeys from the hands of ‘concentration camp wardens’. This year the fight continues as the monkeys were taken back.
In April last year, the International Primate Rescue (IPR) saved 49 monkeys from conditions veterinarians described as “something like a concentration camp”.
But a few weeks ago, Sue Mosley, the founder of IPR and a monkey lover, lost custody of the monkeys and the members of the centre from which they had removed the monkeys collected them from IPR’s premises.
Photos: Submitted
Mosley said that she was nearly in tears when she first saw the state of the monkeys more than a year ago.
She claims that on her first visit, she saw almost a hundred monkeys at the garden centre. Then on her second visit, there were only 55, and finally she confiscated about 49 monkeys.
Also Read: 49 Starving monkeys rescued
“They were so malnourished that you could see their bones,” said Mosley. “They had almost no hair and had boils and bodily injuries all over.”
Mosley opened a case of animal cruelty against the garden centre where the monkeys were kept and with a police escort she and a few of the IPR volunteers went to fetch them. She also started a transaction to buy three of the monkeys, just to ensure that she could take them all home.
It took the IPR nearly six months to nurse the monkeys back to health, but by September that same year, thanks to a special diet and ample attention, they were happy, playing around in their dens and interacting better with humans.
“They couldn’t be fed large amounts of food at first because it would have caused such indigestion. Their bodies couldn’t take that much food at once. We also couldn’t leave food out for them – they would devour it quickly because they didn’t know when the next serving would come.”
Photos: Submitted
Volunteers hand-fed the monkeys every two hours with little amounts of plain food such as vegetables and chicken.
“Then all of a sudden, about two weeks ago, the owner of the garden centre pitched up at our premises and said she was there for the monkeys. She forced them into cages and drove off. My heart was broken and some of the volunteers shed a few tears.”
The garden centre owner claimed that the transaction to buy the three monkeys was never completed and she could therefore take the monkeys back. She had a warrant of execution with her, and the garden centre could not fight back at that stage.
The owner of the monkeys also alleged that she would sell them to a game reserve in Vaalwater.
Mosley now fears that the monkeys will meet an sad fate if they remain in the custody of the garden centre for too long.
The battle between the private owners and the IPR continues – and the future of the monkeys remains uncertain.
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