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The little monkey below is Grub - an orphan whose mother was shot. K-Lee is pictured in the cage soon after she arrived. Her burn wounds are clear - they took at least a month to heal. In the next picture K-Lee has begun to heal and is in the sanctuary enclosure where she began to bond with other rescued monkeys at the DPG.

In the second row are images of Harriet. From left to right: 1. Shiraz, Harriet and baby Kali, 2. Harriet flies 3. Harriet with infants Hedley and Pim

Harriet is one of four female vervets that were wild before arriving at the DPG. It is rare for females to leave their troops but in all four of these cases, the females were found alone without troops, suggesting that vervet monkey populations in this area are in a lot of trouble.

Harriet regularly visited the property of a couple who loved having her around. She was there most of the time for three years. Although there was a vervet troop near by, she did not join up with them. When the couple moved, Harriet was at risk of being killed by the new tenants and it was decided that the best option would be for her to join our rescued troop. Within three weeks, she had intergrated into the troop and taken over top female position from Monki (the top female at the time). As a result the younger monkeys learned many lessons about being a wild monkey from her and her male companion, Mr No Hands.

Shiraz is a three year old female who arrived soon after her mother was shot when she was an infant. She is an integrated part of the matriarch today and roams freely in the forest with the others.

Both Hedley and Pim are one year old and enjoying their lives as wild free vervets.

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i love harriet. harriet is our top female who came here after spending three years alone in the wild. she swiftly claimed our top male - mr no hands -as her own and the two of them have led the troop together for some months now through a number of wilderness lessons.

during the last two weeks, two single wild males have moved into our troop undergoing rehabilitation - their names are kong and tarzan. mr no hands has uncharacteristically been relatively calm and accepting of the new members, but yesterday things took on a different hue when harriet sidled up to tarzan, sat on a neighbor branch and silently communicated with him for a long time. mr no hands, who had just come back from a mission in the deep forest, appeared horrified to see harriet and tarzan together. running up to them, he jumped on harriet who let out a chilling scream and ran as fast as i have ever seen her run. just as i was beginning to worry at mr no hands' dramatic anger and its potential, harriet came to a halt in mid stride. she then turned around as if wondering; what the %^&* am i doing?, and charged towards her beloved, screaming as loudly as she could. i had no time to wonder how he'd respond. he stared for a nano-second, his eyes widening, and then he ran off, in the only way he can, on his two back legs, upright. In between strides he'd jump somewhat rabbit like, his only wish to get out of harriet's way and save himself from what could have been some nasty biting and tearing.

whatever some books and male monkey experts say about alpha males being all powerful, it has been clear that in our specific troop, harriet leads and dictates to such an extent, one cannot mistake that out of the whole group, she has the most power. those she has not befriended using her skillful social skills, she has instead terrorised enough to ensure they obey her every command. at feeding time, she does not allow anyone to eat until she and mr no hands are done, and it is not merely one feeding spot she guards but all of them - she runs from one to one chasing the other monkeys away.

but this particular social move - the one that says; i am going to get you before you get me, is one that nature exposes time and time again. whether you are faced with a simple, uncomfortable situation or an enemy out to kill, do not run seems to be the message. fear and anxiety may get in the way of your intellect when you're faced with danger, influencing you to respond in a way that will only bring that you do not want.

the most beneficial thing to do is think strategy. And nonhuman primates do this constantly.

Spike is a very special soul. A few years ago, I was called by a woman who had come across a little monkey on a dark, deserted road at night. Vervets are di-urnal, meaning they are active during the day while they sleep in high treetops at night so the story she told was certainly a strange one.

She had stopped her vehicle to get out the car and approach Spike (the little monkey) and Spike had run up to her and jumped into her arms. When I heard this, I assumed that Spike had to be a pet yet there were no houses close by to where she was found. Furthermore when I brought Spike home, she uncharacteristically showed signs of not knowing human homes or any other human associations (for example, a wild monkey is likely to try and run through a glass window - when seeing one for the first time - not having learnt yet what a window is). Spike also approached the cats and dogs here, pressing her nose to theirs as if she had no fear at all of strangers..or predators. Her story was unsusual. We''ll never know the truth behind it. She may have been born retarded, carried by her mother and then abandoned when her mother gave birth to a new infant; she was one year old when she was found.

Over time, it became clear that she was slightly brain damaged and could not be fully rehabilitated back into the wild, yet she became a much loved part time member of the troop as gentle surrogate mother to orphaned babies. She is also the best monkey to introduce newcomers to at first due to her gentle, unthreatening approach.

Kali was very lucky: she arrived as an orphan almost immediately after her mother was run down on the highway and quickly bonded with Harriet who was top female at the time. Her status has remained high in spite of her tiny size. She is two years old. In the photograph on the right she is hugging Mr No Hands who with Harriet was leading the troop at the time.

_ How South African law impacts on the amount of primates needing rescue is rarely brought into the open. Keeping monkeys or baboons as pets is against the law which works to protect monkeys from the cruelty of the pet industry. However, the amount of orphans that end up as pets would be reduced considerably if primates were legally protected and the law was carefully enforced. Baboons and monkeys are persecuted throughout South Africa without any enforced protection taking place. Taking this into consideration, many kindhearted people find themselves taking in an orphan infant monkey or baboon whose mother has been shot, without much knowledge about these primates requirements and choosing to go against the law knowing that if they don't, the chances of the orphan being “euthanased”/shot is highly likely.


Biting is a natural aspect of vervet monkey behaviour and is used in various contexts When monkeys grow up with humans, they treat humans as they would do their troop and will bite when it is called for. Once the “pet” starts to bite, the human guardians are forced to look for an alternative home and the monkey – torn away from his/her human family and invariably traumatised lands up at a rehab centre, sanctuary or is euthanased. Some are able to adapt to their own kind while others will remain damaged for life. These ex-pets are certainly capable of living out a content existence provided they have a full social life, good food source and are protected.

Goliath and Franco - seen below - are two ex pets who have joined us and are undergoing rehabilitation. 

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: GOLIATH, FRANCO, FRANCO THE DAY HE ARRIVED and CLOSE UP OF GOLIATH. Both Goliath and Franco are ex "pets" who are undergoing rehabilitation. Both are large for their age as is often the case when monkeys are initially reared by humans.  Franco - after being nurtured by his human guardian for three years and without having contact with his own kind, has been sensitive to his new environment but is making remarkable progress nevertheless. Goliath - on the other hand - was exposed to other monkeys before arriving here so was less shocked at being integrated.

_ LEAH:

Leah is a three year old orphaned female who was sadly attacked by a predator here some months after she had been released into the forest with her new troop. As a result she lost the use of one of her back legs, but has adapted well and today roams freely as an integrated troop member in our rehabilitated vervet troop.

Monki - an orphan that was rescued from a location, started to mother the orphan infants at the age of three years old. I try as far as possible to bond orphan infants with other monkeys as soon as possible. If no monkeys are able to take on the job, then human surrogate mothers are used until the infant is old enough to join the others and eat food without help. During her first year of acting as surrogate mother, Monki proudly took on seven babies at once while I helped. Being a semi-humanised monkey, she and I were able to work together to make sure the babies got their daily allowance of milk and were protected. A wild female monkey would not have allowed me to give milk in a bottle to the babies. Below are photos of Monki, baby Disney, Noodle - an orphan who become Monki's number one daughter and Shiraz - an orphan who became Monki's number two daughter. These three females act as a strongly bonded group at the top of the hierarchy. The vervet monkey is a female bonded species. Monki lost her position for one and a half years when Harriet arrived and took over but she regained top position again recently.

Although Amy is an ex "pet", she has shown a preference for monkeys - rather than people - since the day she arrived. Observing the language of her new friends, she quickly worked her way into the heart of the troop. She has not shown any interest in touching or being close to humans since and is integrated with her own kind. The photos below show her in the sanctuary enclosure with Goliath. In the photo below, she is holding an infant that is not hers, acting as allo-mother. (Nov 2011)

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SNARES AND THE HORRIFIC CONSEQUENCES.

Above: Mr No Hands making his way across the cables, upright after having his forearms removed in a trap.

In spite of low predator populations, our baboons and monkeys are run over by cars, killed by dogs, caught in snares, poisoned, caught for biomedical research laboratories, the pet industry and muthi (traditional medicine), electrocuted on pylons, and shot or injured by pellet guns.

For over a year, the Animal Welfare in Knysna has been receiving reports of single monkeys without limbs who have been forced to rely on the kindness of certain humans for protection and food. These monkeys have all been snared. Some have died from their wounds.

Mr No HANDS - an adult male - was first seen surviving with his troop but then had to resort to living alone making his destiny exceptionally precarious as a single monkey - especially one without hands - is vulnerable to predators.
Some residents were kind enough to accept and tolerate his reliance on them, allowing him access onto human properties for some time. But recently a few began to threaten to shoot him , forcing us to find a way to save his life.

When he arrived here, the other monkeys greeted him enthusiastically. This calm, wise male is unlikely to have presented a threat to anyone. Unfortunately the myths that exist about these primates remain one of their biggest threats to survival. With more tolerance and understanding it is possible to co-exist harmoniously. These monkeys increasingly face the difficulty of living next to ongoing development that encroached on their habitat and are faced daily with the risk of being electrocuted, snared, run over, killed by dogs, shot or poisoned.

BELOW: MR NO HANDS - TWO PORTRAITS OF THIS MALE'S BEAUTIFUL FACE AND THE DAY HE ARRIVED WHEN THE TROOP GREETED HIM.

BELOW: MR NO HANDS AND WILD FEMALE BABOON - APHRODITE AT HOME.

Nakedi, Kennedy, Koko and Madala are all sub-adults who arrived as infant orphans whose mothers were shot by farmers. Today they are integrated into the free roaming troop that survive in the surrounding natural forest.

The photos below show three wild females that were brought here because they were living alone without a troop.We have found that this has become a common situation in this area and it seems to suggest that the vervet monkey populations are seriously damaged here. The three females below - Laura, Ella and K-Lee are presently undergoing intergration and have the choice to be protected in the enclosure or to be free in the wild. At present they choose both options. (Because our monkeys have been given the choice to roam freely or to find protection in an enclosure, they seem to have no fear of being in cages and often make the choice to go into one, knowing they will not be trapped against their will.)

Tarzan is a wild male who moved into the troop two years ago, It took him fivemonths to kick Mr No Hands out of top position. He has had a wonderful influence on the troop's development.

The phot on the left was taken by photographer Rick Hemi whose interests lie in wildlife, culture and landscape. His photographic work can be viewed at: http://www.rickhemi.com