Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Tweeter and the Monkey Man

Monkey Clinic is the first stop on the road to rehabilitation at Inti Wara Yassi. New capuchin arrivals at the park receive medical tests and veterinarians observe how they interact with other monkeys. Most of the monkeys were abused or neglected as pets therefore they have some trust issues. For those who have lived in captivity, its important for them to work on their monkey skills, like climbing, balancing, and self-defense.

We, Nick from France and I, start each day by letting the monkeys out of their cages, where they sleep, and putting them on runners so they can play. Its great to watch their wide-eyed excitement as they grab for their breakfast banana. We spend the morning cleaning up after a night of monkey bathroom use. Once we are done with poop detail, we play with the monkeys which means letting them climb all over us, pull our hair, and lick the sweat pouring down our faces. In the afternoon we chop down bamboo and banana leaves for them to play with and snack on.

Hopefully all these monkeys will be released into the wild very soon.

4 comments:

Addie said...

Totally want to be their friend!

Unknown said...

What soulful little faces! Total eye contact! That last one of Larkin - heart-melting! Bravo!

Liz said...

Claudia is the best!

Mary Moore said...

Both of these 2 postings have just melted my heart. I want to go.

Temple, I loved your feathered friends - they almost look unreal with such bright colors. Do they live out the rest of their lives at the Center? If so, I'm glad they had you to care for them, love, mary