Newsletter No. 40
Protecting primates and habitats worldwide
Registered charity No: 1102532
IN THIS ISSUE: Monkey Sanctuary update, Maya Tribute, Marmoset Appeal update and lots more
A memory, mission and vision. Editor’s Summary
Frosty Top Tweets Bigger Printing @BiggerPrinting Great photo from @wildfutures of their revamped display room at, containing their new display boards #GlosBiz LUVZS @LUVZS1 Thanks to everyone who came along to #LUVZS day & to the fab speakers from @WildlifeVetsInt, @wildfutures and @stae_elephants Cireson Team @teamcireson We were so sorry to hear of Maya’s passing at @ wildfutures. We are proud to support this awesome organization. http://hubs.ly/H02D2dF0 Pascale Petit @pascalepoet @wildfutures it was very moving to visit the room with Joey’s cage & his story, & hear the keepers talk so passionately about their monkeys helena mylward @hzm1987 @wildfutures look forward to coming to the sanctuary tomorrow Primate Conservation @PrimConsOBU Big thank you to @wildfutures for arranging an amazing & very informative weekend for our @PrimConsOBU MSc students
Spring is a little bitter-sweet this year. As many of you will already know, we had to share very sad news in early March when our beautiful Maya passed away due to age-related organ failure. She wasn’t a young monkey at almost 24 years old, but those who knew and loved her were devastated by her loss, as she was such a central character at our Sanctuary. Happily though, her daughter Lily is coping remarkably well so far and is currently being cared for by Ivor, who is utterly devoted to her and doing a great job. The rest of her woolly monkey ‘uncles’, Pablo, Caju and Ollie are also dedicated to her care and protection. My tribute to Maya is on page 4. The courage and character of the capuchin monkeys never ceases to inspire all who know them. Our wonderful monkey care team are dedicated to healing shattered lives, providing the home for life that the monkeys deserve. This year they have taken this dedication a step further: in the knowledge that there are so many more monkeys in the UK that need rescuing, they joined Mission Marmoset with their “Caged Keeper Challenge”. Please see page 7 for an update on their progress. The Barbary Macaques, Mario and Chico have matured into impressive males, ready to test each other and their territory, keeping us busy enriching their enclosures. Donkey was castrated, apparently by the circus who kept him in his younger years, and as a result he will never compete physically with his two companions. However, he loves to play with Mario or sunbathe with Chico – let’s hope there is plenty of sun this summer! In our last issue, we reported on three projects that we were delighted to support through our small grants scheme. On page 11 we are able to give news on how you, our supporters, have helped Wild Futures protect primates and habitats worldwide. The Wild Futures vision is a world in which people understand and respect the welfare and conservation needs of primates and habitats, where primates have a wild future and the need to provide sanctuary for victims of the pet trade has passed. I hope that you enjoy reading how we contribute our part in achieving this. Designed & Printed by Redrok
Thank you for making this possible.
www.redrok.co.uk
Rachel PS: Check out our new look websites, making it possible to move seamlessly between monkeysanctuary.org and wildfutures.org. Wild Futures, Murrayton House, St Martins, Looe, Cornwall PL13 1NZ Tel: 01503 262532 • Email:info@wildfutures.org Web: wildfutures.org • monkeysanctuary.org • adoptamonkey.org @wildfutures
facebook.com/wildfutures
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Please pass this newsletter on to a friend or neighbour to raise awareness of our work.
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Staff profile:
Giorgia Torre Wild Futures
How did you first get involved with Wild Futures? I first came to volunteer for two weeks in September 2013. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and in 2014 I was lucky enough to be accepted for the year-long primate caregiver internship. At the end of my internship, I was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time as a job became available. What is your role now? I am a primate caregiver working with Barbary macaques and capuchins and I am currently training with woolly monkeys. The main part of my job is cleaning enclosures, feeding the monkeys and keeping them happy by providing them with plenty of daily enrichment. I am also participating in re-roping all the enclosures, keeping records of the heat cycles of the capuchins, helping out with overseas projects and giving educational talks during the open season.
‘I do not see this as a job, more as a passion.’ What challenges have you faced over the years? Starting as an intern, my challenges were different from where I am now, on a personal and on a working level. The challenges and joys of working in this type of field are many, not only with the monkeys but also with the volunteers and staff. I actually find it easier working with the monkeys rather than the people! It is a challenging job but rewarding, we try to have a routine in the way we move the monkeys and feed them but every day is different depending on the monkeys’ moods. There is always something happening! That is what keeps the job exciting. I do not see this as a job, more as a passion.
What inspires you? There is always something we can do to help wildlife and the environment. It makes me happy knowing that I’m helping these animals to have a better quality of life, although it is nothing like what they deserve but it is far better than what they had. I have always wanted to have some sort of positive meaning to my life and helping these monkeys gives me that feeling. What do you hope to achieve in the future? I still want to travel, to see the world, learn new languages, meet new cultures, experience other sanctuaries, rescue and rehabilitation centres, to learn more about primates and other mammalian species. I want to learn about sustainable ecofriendly ways of surviving in harmony with the environment. I love yoga and meditation and combining all my interests together, the final goal would be to progress into in situ conservation by running my own sustainable rescue and rehabilitation centre.
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Calendar of events
THE MONKEY SANCTUARY UPDATE
Sunday 19th June Father’s Day
Monday 20th June World Record Skydive!
Roccita
Sunday 24th July
Animal Welfare Day
Sunday 28th August Native Wildlife Day
Saturday 22nd – Sunday 30th October
Autumn half term
Sanctuary open weekends only for rest of October
Sunday 30th October Last open day before Sanctuary closes its doors to the public for the 2016 season
December (Date tbc) Christmas Open Day
After what seemed like another long, cold, wet winter for the monkeys and team at the Sanctuary, we are happy to report that everyone is full of the joys of spring once again! It must be said that the majority of our monkeys do just fine throughout the British winters; snuggling up together in their indoor heated rooms and having their every need catered for by our dedicated carers who are guaranteed to be out in all weathers – cleaning, feeding, enriching and medicating our demanding residents! But, of course, everyone prefers the spring and summer months when the milder weather and sunshine offers lots of opportunity for the monkeys to exercise in their large outdoor enclosures, forage amongst the vegetation or sunbathe and groom with friends. We had a great start to our open season again this year with over 1,000 visitors through the gates for February half term, which helped us to raise awareness about Mission Marmoset, our special project for this year, and of course to raise vital funds for our charity. All income from entrance tickets to The Monkey Sanctuary goes straight back into caring for the monkeys that live there and supporting our charity’s ongoing work campaigning, educating and supporting overseas projects to protect primates and habitats worldwide. This year, we have re-vamped our display room and have various new educational displays on site, including ‘What is a Primate?’, featuring an amazing reconstructed
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woolly monkey skeleton and a fascinating collection of replica primate skulls with additional interpretation signage. We have also built a brand new admissions desk to replace the old one, which had been in place for decades. The old ‘desk hut’ had many associated memories and many a woolly monkey had sheltered there during rain showers when they were out foraging in the gardens, but it just couldn’t stay standing for much longer and the new one is much better for welcoming our visitors!
We are pleased to let you know that our second biomass boiler is now up and running. After the success of our first boiler, which (after a few expected teething troubles!) proved itself to be incredibly efficient, we decided to install another to take on the job of heating the majority of the monkey rooms. Having the two biomass boiler systems in place is much more environmentally friendly than our old system and will help to save our charity much needed funds. It is thanks to a generous legacy that we now have ethically warmed monkeys!
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Maya Tribute The passing of Maya leaves us with heavy hearts; we find solace through Lily, Maya’s daughter, who is coping remarkably well. Rachel, our director, has written a very special tribute to Maya below, whom she cared for from the day she was born. How do you pay tribute to someone you have known for almost 24 years, someone with whom you grew and learnt, who was predictable and yet frequently had the capacity to surprise? My conversations with Maya did not use words and so I cannot report those times verbatim. It is the woolly monkey’s emotional intelligence which is so captivating and enthralling, their ability to read the slightest physical movement and intention. My memories of time shared with Maya are of glances across the gardens (in the time when the woolly monkeys spent time outside of their territory, exploring the Sanctuary grounds, mingling with visitors – a space that is now fenced and pet trades. Woolly monkeys died for exclusive use of the monkeys), her young in captivity and replacement was trust and expectation that I would know easy before CITES (Convention on Interwhen and where she wanted to negoti- national Trade of Endangered Species) ate a crowd, to access a tree, to return created more protection by restricting home to her colony. A brief look to sig- trade. It was partly his outrage at the nal her intentions and she would set off, scale of mortality and suffering that led assuming that I understood what was Len Williams to found, what was probrequired. Woolly monkey communica- ably, the first primate sanctuary in the tion is subtle, individual social space world. Every individual monkey is difsacrosanct. A monkey who is born into ferent but so too is each family, often a woolly group learns this early on and sharing characteristics. infringement of these mores are met with great With the implementation of a offence and yet a willingnon-breeding policy, and as woolly ness to forgive, as long as the mistake is not renumbers dwindled, she became peated too often. If Maya affectionately known, by her human offered a hand or tail as a friends, as Queen Madge. request for a “leg-up” into a tree or over the barrier and instead you thought she wanted to For example, Ivor’s family, descended be carried elsewhere, she would throw from Lulu, was always intensely loyal, you a look of disdain and if repeated too and Maya’s family typically seemed often, simply stop asking for help. to have a sense of fun. Maya’s grandMaya was part of the fourth generation of woollies born at the Sanctuary; her great-great-grandmother Jessy was wild-born, one of the many thousands of monkeys stolen from the forests of South America in the 1960s for the zoo
mother, Kate had an extraordinary vocal range, she appeared to use more sounds than anyone, loving to noisily encourage play-fights as she tumbled with whoever would join her. Her daughter Polly and Maya’s sister Ella were similarly cheeky,
ready to test humans and woollies alike with a chuckle. Compared to these, Maya was quieter, like many first born woollies, she slipped into second place behind her younger sibling. When she was four years old, she fell ill with a viral infection and for years she struggled to maintain good health. This weakness made her vulnerable to intestinal parasites and we often wondered how she would fare long-term. Then a new medical treatment saw her make a sustained recovery. Over the years, the once physically fragile monkey became a core member of the woolly group. With the implementation of a non-breeding policy, and as woolly numbers dwindled, she became affectionately known, by her human friends, as Queen Madge. She was always small in stature but willing to assert herself fearlessly; it was impressive to see her roll a growing Oliver, 50% bigger than herself, when she thought he needed reprimanding. After many years of oral or implant contraceptives, Maya’s last surprise to us, as many of you know, was to become pregnant at the age of 22, to sail through that pregnancy, and then to show us a textbook delivery. She was a lovely mother, and was very willing to share the task of carrying little Lily with her best friend Ivor. This was perhaps a sign that her age was taking its toll, but it also prepared Lily for when she was no longer around to take care of her. I held Maya in my arms as she died. What greater honour can there be than to share both that moment of arrival and departure with a fellow primate? That was my privilege and in her last few moments, I wished that her family had never been taken from the forest; that the true essence of Maya, as a wild woolly monkey, had been allowed to be expressed in the trees of her ancestral home. I wanted to apologise and thank her. I promised her that Wild Futures would continue to care for her family and work to protect her cousins in their forest homes.
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Volunteer takes on personal challenge for the monkeys!
CAMPAIGNS UPDATE
David Carthy is one of our wonderful dedicated volunteers. A teacher, and an adopter of Joey, he was always keen to share Joey’s story and our message about the primate pet trade with his students. We were delighted when Dave enquired about our Primate Carer Internship for 2014. However, tragedy struck in September 2013 when he suffered a sudden, massive, brain haemorrhage, leaving him in an induced coma. An emergency operation saved his life, but he suffered a serious stroke soon afterwards, losing movement in the right side of his body, as well as the ability to speak. His family were told that he may never walk again. The past two years have been a real challenge for Dave, being in rehabilitation centres all across the UK, working to recover his speech and movement. He has beaten the odds so far, exceeding all medical expectations, and has set himself a challenge - determined to improve his mobility he’s attempting to walk 500,000 steps to raise money for Joey and the other monkeys! We are humbled by Dave’s support and his dedication to the monkeys and to Wild Futures. If you want to make a donation in support of Dave, visit his just giving page: www. justgiving.com/ChalkdownHouse
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George McGavin
We continue to be active partners of a coalition that has come together to work towards an end to the UK primate pet trade. We are partnered with the RSPCA, The Born Free Foundation, Four Paws, One Kind, the British Veterinary Association, and the Captive Animals’ Protection Society. Being part of a united team to help end the primate pet trade in the UK is extremely important to us.
Something that really helps to strengthen our campaign is the backing and help we receive from our dedicated supporters. Have you signed our petition yet? If not, you can do so at www.protectprimates. org, If you have already signed the petition, maybe you could share it again with your family, friends, and colleagues? The more signatures on this petition, the stronger our case.
A lack of adequate knowledge about primate species will often lead to those kept as pets suffering greatly A lack of adequate knowledge about primate species will often lead to those kept as pets suffering greatly and we hope that by working together we will help bring an end to this cruel trade sooner than if we all work alone.
We could not do this work without your help, so thank you so much! As we have mentioned before, the DEFRA review on the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Privately Kept NonHuman Primates was meant to go ahead last year; however, sadly, this still has not happened.
We are hopeful that it will be reviewed towards the end of 2016, after the EU referendum and Parliament’s summer recess. We continue to work closely with our coalition to prepare for this.
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Dready or Knot? One of our amazing supporters, Dale, decided to cut off his dreadlocks to raise funds for us: “I’ve had dreadlocks now for 10 years and have decided to chop them off in aid of Wild Futures”. Dale’s partner volunteered at the Sanctuary a couple of years ago and the two have been wanting to fundraise for us since her time here.
Donkey In March we responded to DEFRA’s Pet Vending Consultation whereby we recommended the use of a positive list of animal species that are legal and suitable to be kept and sold as pets or for private ownership. A positive list is an easy-tofollow list, which starts with the premise that an animal cannot be kept unless it has been decided that it is suitable for ownership, therefore it comprises only of animals that can be kept. This is in contrast to a “negative” list that assumes that all animals can be kept, except those on the “negative” list. In the UK, the only animals listed in this way are certain” dangerous” dogs. The Positive List has been successfully implemented in Belgium and has recently been introduced in The Netherlands. The criteria for inclusion on the positive list introduced in Belgium in 2001 include the following: • Listed species must be easy to hold/keep. • The essential physiological, ethological (behavioural) and ecological needs of a species must be easy to meet. • A species likely to survive and cause potential risk to the surrounding environment will not be listed. • Aggressive and/or dangerous species, or those that present a danger to human health, will not be listed.
• Scientific data must be available concerning the keeping of any listed species. • If data on the keeping of a species is contradictory, the animal will not be listed. We have been lucky enough to have our work featured in Oxford Brookes University’s in-house journal, “Canopy”, which is being distributed at the International Primatological Society (IPS) 2016 meeting, held in Chicago at the end of August. This is a great opportunity to reach a huge number of primate experts from all over the world, informing them of the work that we do, with the hope that we could work together to help strengthen our campaigns! Some of you may remember that it was the Wild Futures and RSPCA’s joint approach to IPS in 2008 that brought about their official policy statement opposing the primate pet trade. There are lots of exciting things happening over the next few months for us. We will be sure to keep you posted with the developments and we will continue to work hard to end the UK primate pet trade. We thank you for your continued support and help, our achievements are yours too!
Dale, who runs the Big Green Surf School in Newquay, offered a full day’s private surf coaching to the person who could guess the total length of his dreads when placed end to end. He set a target of £200 when he started his fundraising, but managed to beat it by over £300, taking his total to over £500.
Without people like Dale we wouldn’t be able to continue our vital work. If you have any fundraising ideas do contact our fundraising team: fundraising@wildfutures.org.
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Every Little Helps…
Mission Marmoset Appeal - Update
We were touched to find out that a young girl named Libby recently chose to donate her pocket money to our charity, so we wanted to share this little story with you! Libby is just three years old. This year she received her first ever pocket money, when her mum decided it was the right time for her to learn about spending, saving and giving to charity. Every week, Libby receives £1. Out of that, 50p is for her to keep and 50p is for a charity of her choice. When she gets her pocket money, she and her mum talk about charities. They talk about the fact that sometimes people and animals need a little bit of help and, one week, Libby decided that she wanted to help monkeys, so she donated her 50p to Wild Futures. We are grateful to Libby’s mum for teaching such an important, valuable lesson. Education is a vital part of our work, so we love to hear from our young supporters and of course we are also very grateful to the fantastic Libby for her donation - every little really does help a small charity like ours!
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M innie We are delighted to ansurrogate mother marmoMinnie was just 18 set at another facility. nounce that our appeal to months old when we save the smallest victims of Tiny Minnie is yet another heard about her, but the UK primate pet trade big reason why we need had already lived as has got off to a great start, your help with Mission thanks to your amazing supa pet in at least three Marmoset… port. We would like to say different homes. Minnie was just 18 months a big ‘thank you!’ to everyold when we heard about one who has donated so far - we have already raised £25,000 towards her, but had already lived as a pet in at least our £60,000 target for building permanent three different homes. Her owners, who marmoset facilities at our Sanctuary, but we live locally to our Sanctuary, contacted us still have a long way to go and you can help when her companion passed away from unknown causes, leaving Minnie depressed make this project a reality! and alone. We stepped in to rescue her and The amount of calls we receive concerning placed her in temporary accommodation at pet marmosets is on the increase and a lack our Sanctuary, but, as we don’t yet have the of knowledge about their specialised needs proper facilities for marmosets, we had to often leads to them suffering physically and find somewhere else for her to go. This is psychologically; cramped in birdcages, fed no easy task; although we would have preinappropriate, high-sugar diets, denied vi- ferred Minnie to find sanctuary, space for tal companionship and suffering from seri- marmosets in rescue centres is extremely ous health problems. Since launching this limited, so, on this occasion, Minnie went appeal six months ago, we have already to live at a UK zoo. Happily though, she been asked to help several more marmo- was paired with a young male who gave sets, including a tiny, frightened infant who her companionship once again. was just seven weeks old. The baby had STOP THE PRESS! been snatched from his doting parents by an unscrupulous breeder to be sold as a pet We are really excited to announce that in May and the uninformed couple who bought we started building for the marmosets! While we are still fundraising for the whole build, him handed over £600 to buy him. We thanks to our wonderful supporters, we have worked with the RSPCA on this case for been able to start building a separate ‘quaranweeks and thanks to our dedicated team, tine’ enclosure. You can read more about that we are pleased to report that the infant has on our website news section! been rescued, and has been adopted by a
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Young Ambassador raises money for marmosets
There are currently around 5000 privately owned primates in the UK and marmosets are the most commonly kept, so it really concerns us to think how many others are out there suffering. We need £60,000 to build a brand new complex of spacious indoor and outdoor enclosures to accommodate rescued marmosets in social groups; affording them a stimulating three-dimensional environment with natural vegetation, branches, ropes, platforms and hiding places to allow them to express natural behaviours and spend their days socialising with others of their own kind. Please help us give rescued marmosets a second chance at life by contributing towards our appeal, we cannot save them without your generous support. To donate, please fill in the donation form on the back of this newsletter or visit www. wildfutures.org/marmoset-appeal. You can also text RESC01 and the amount you want to give (e.g. RESC01 £20) to 70070 or donate over the phone – please call 01503 262532. Other ways to help the marmosets! You can also arrange your own fundraising activities to help our appeal. Why not take on a personal challenge or sponsored event or organise a fundraising event at your workplace or school? Together we can help to end the suffering and we simply can’t do it without you - please contact fundraising@ wildfutures.org for advice on how to get involved! Here are just a few of the wonderful people who have been raising funds for us so far this year! Caged Keepers’ Challenge Back in April, 11 of our wonderful primate carers were locked in a tiny cage for 24 hours to raise funds towards the new marmoset facility. Primate Carer, Paul Reynolds, said: “We urgently need to raise the funds to be able to
build a new facility, to offer marmosets a home at our Sanctuary, so the Primate Care Team came up with this sponsored event to help raise funds. It is really hard as we receive lots of calls to rescue monkeys and we are not currently able to help, so we are desperate to be able to say yes when we get requests to re-home them. We all really enjoyed the challenge and were really pleased with how much we raised!” The carers raised a fantastic £2,500 and it’s not too late to honour their achievement by donating to their fundraising page, which is still open! www.justgiving.com/teams/ keepersleepover Cake Sales Cake Sales are a great way to raise money, especially when you are at school or university. Ella Barrett is a Wild Futures’ Ambassador and she organised a cake sale at Hartpury college where she studies. The marmoset appeal motivated her to get fellow students involved, not only to raise money for Wild Futures, but also to raise awareness of our work. On the day they raised over £90 and had a great day talking to people about the plight of the primate pet trade. Students on the MSc Primate Conservation course at Oxford Brookes University also held a cake sale in a bid to raise money for the marmosets. They raised a whopping £160. What makes this particular bake sale unique is that Santander Bank, which has a branch situated within the University’s main campus, offered to match any money raised on the day of their cake sale. This brings the total up to £320. Asking a bank to match your donation is a really easy way to potentially double your fundraising efforts. Just pop along to your local branch and ask.
Layla is 10 years old and first got involved with Wild Futures when she took part in a fun run in Plymouth when she was about seven years old. Watching Joey’s story on You Tube really touched her, and she wanted to do more for monkeys. She has always had a passion for animals and has wanted to work with them since she was two years old! She adopted Joey not long after the fun run and she is a very dedicated supporter, who is now one of our treasured Young Ambassadors. She visits when she can and always bringing a little box of treats for Joey! Layla is such an inspirational young girl, who at a young age is showing great compassion. Most recently, Layla, with the help of her good friend Tia, decided to cycle part of the Camel Trail in Cornwall to raise money for our marmoset appeal. It was a rainy, cold bank holiday Monday in May, and both girls cycled 10.5 miles, and raised a whopping £282.50! We are very proud of Layla and her friend Tia, and are honoured that they have chosen to support our charity and to help us on our mission to rescue marmosets. If all of that wasn’t enough, the pair is also in talks with their school council to hold a mufti day! Stories like this really warm our hearts and we thank Layla and Tia for everything that they are doing to help us protect primates worldwide.
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What is a Primate? Primates are a group of mammals, to which humans, chimpanzees, capuchins and lemurs belong. Non-human primates are our closest biological relatives and we share much of their DNA. Primates play an integral role in the ecology of their habitat by acting as pollinators and seed dispersers.
Prosimians Today
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Old World Monkeys
There are over 600 species and subspecies of primate and they are divided into 3 main groups: apes, monkeys and prosimians. Humanoids
Lorises
Tarsiers
Marmoset
Macaque
Gibbon
Lemurs
Pottos
Spider Monkey
Baboon
Lar Gibbon
Galagos
Tamarin
Colobus Monkey
Siamang
Million of years ago
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New World Monkeys
They have forward-facing eyes for excellent depth perception and very flexible limbs; an evolutionary adaptation for life in the trees. They have fingernails instead of claws, large brains and most are highly social, undergoing long periods of infancy and development.
Orangutan
Gorilla
Chimpanzees
Humans
•The last common ancestor of humans & chimpanzees lived 8-6 million years ago.
• The last common ancestor of monkeys and apes lived about 25million years ago.
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Primate Ancestor
• The first prosimians appeared around 55 million years ago.
MONKEYS PROSIMIANS Prosimians are the primates from which monkeys and apes evolved. They are thought to bridge the gap between primates and other mammals, as they share many characteristics with mammals outside of the primate family. Most prosimians are nocturnal and have a tapetum, a particularly reflective layer of their eye, which aids night-vision. They also have wet noses to enhance their sense of smell in the dark. They have smaller brains than other primates and many prosimians produce litters, rather than single offspring.
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Monkeys are separated into Old World monkeys, which evolved in Asia and Africa and New World monkeys, which are found in the Americas. The two groups had a common evolutionary ancestor around 40 million years ago but developed different adaptations to life in diverse environments, although they still share many characteristics. Monkeys are largely diurnal and have dry, hairy noses. A large brain means that they possess high levels of intelligence and good memories. Most monkeys have tails, which are often longer than their bodies, they also have the ability to sit upright, allowing them greater use of their dextrous hands.
APES This group is separated into lesser apes (gibbons) and great apes (humans, gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and bonobos). Great apes are larger than other primates and are the most successful toolusers and problem solvers in the primate world. Apes have a vertical posture (due to their short spine and broad pelvis) and a large brain-size-tobody ratio. They don’t have tails but their extremely dextrous hands allow them to be very adaptable and easily able to manipulate objects in their environment.
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EDUCATION UPDATE
Billy’s Chocolate Brownies!
Ingredients: • 5 tablespoons sunflower oil • 200g dairy-free dark chocolate • 170g self-raising flour Our Education Officer, Paul, has been busy over the winter months, improving education buildings at The Monkey Sanctuary, with a particular focus on our Display Room. Now with a new wooden floor and new displays, the Display Room is looking great, with a special thank you to Oxford Brookes University for helping us to acquire 3-D printed skulls, giving us a fascinating insight into a variety of primates. At the end of October, Paul visited Penryn Campus of Exeter and Falmouth University to give a seminar to Bioscience students about the work of Wild Futures as well as how to enter the field of primatology. It was a successful talk with over 80 students turning up. This December was the first time that we gave seminars at South Devon and Bicton Colleges for their Conservation and Animal Management and Science students; we received a great reception and made new educational links with both colleges. Throughout the winter period we have regular volunteer groups from Plymouth University, Falmouth University and Cornwall Colleges who come to help with some of the bigger projects we have to complete during this time. From pruning enclosures
to clearing the grounds of leaves and fallen wood they are very helpful. After all their hard work we always go for a tour of the monkeys so they can appreciate why their help is so important. At the start of this year we welcomed back Oxford Brookes Primate Conservation MSc group for their annual field course, held at The Monkey Sanctuary. As always, we had a wonderful two days of lectures and workshops with the UK’s primatologists of the future. Immediately after the Oxford Brookes’ field course, we launched our new Primate Welfare and Conservation Short Course. Cornwall College, Newquay, was the first academic institution to sign up to the course and we had 15 students complete this over three days. The course consists of lectures and practical workshops relating to primate conservation, husbandry and welfare and aims to introduce students to the practicalities of meeting the welfare needs of primates as well as an up-to-date view of the current global situation facing our closest living relatives. We hope that this course will be run at least once per year and if you are interested in finding out more then please email education@wildfutures.org
• 3 heaped teaspoons cocoa powder • 180g golden caster sugar • pinch of salt • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract • 230ml unsweetened organic soya milk Method: • Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease a baking tin roughly 20cm square. • Melt 150g of the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water and set aside to cool slightly. • Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a large bowl and stir in the sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Then stir in the oil, soya milk and melted chocolate until combined. • Roughly chop remaining chocolate and add to the mixture. • Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. • Leave to cool and serve.
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Thank you OVERSEAS SUPPORT Corporate Donors…
In our last newsletter you will have read about the three wonderful projects that we were able to award with our small grants scheme. It has now been six months since the projects received the funds and they have all been in touch to let us know how that money has made a difference to their projects.
We would like “thank you” to companies that ously supported in various ways few months:
to say a big some of the have generWild Futures over the last
Cireson for donating $1000 in memory of woolly monkey Maya. Cireson is a Microsoft cloud and system centre. Cireson also adopts our lovely little capuchin monkey Amy through our corporate adoption scheme. Amy also has a big fan in the form of IT Monkey, the Cireson mascot! Instachimp, an experiential marketing company based in Plymouth, has joined our team of corporate supporters by adopting Kodak the capuchin. Kodak is a perfect match for Instachimp, as photo printing is a part of their main business activities.
Bigger Printing, a high-quality printing company, helped to print lovely new information and education boards for our revamped display room, a very important educational tool at our Sanctuary.
Vervet Monkey Foundation Our grant to the Vervet Monkey Foundation enabled the project to recruit two local people, over a three month period, to replace an old enclosure in a time frame they had set aside. Not only did they manage to complete this on schedule but they were able to double the size of the old enclosure which will greatly improve the lives of the monkeys in their care. One of the employees, Lucas, showed so much enthusiasm that they decided to take him on permanently. New introduction enclosures were built first so that they could expand the current enclosure, which was built from a new design to improve on the health and safety for the volunteers working outside of these enclosures. The monkeys are now enjoying their new space, climbing the trees and foraging in the grassy areas. The grant from Wild Futures meant the enclosure was completed in three months by employing additional local temporary staff so the VMF team could continue working on the ongoing care and husbandry of the rescued primates.
Eliza Tinsley Ltd, a leading hardware company, has (again) donated 100 ringson-plates that help secure the ropes in the monkey enclosures.
Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation
Result Clothing, once again have provided beautiful branded jackets for the Wild Futures’ team.
The Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation was able to complete their portable education exhibition which was able to reach around 500 children of primary
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school age. The exhibition was a big hit with both older and younger children and one of its outings was even on International Macaque Day. Raising awareness in this way has been very effective for them as in one week they received more than 30 calls from concerned Moroccans informing them of a man with a macaque being used for entertainment purposes. As a result of these calls they were able to get the macaque confiscated by forestry officials and the man was fined. Before the use of the education exhibition, it would have been very unlikely that this would have been reported in urban areas, as the local community would not have thought it was in any way wrong.
Neotropical Primate Conservation The funding we provided allowed the Neotropical Primate Conservation programme to visit rescue centres throughout Peru in September 2015. These visits were ordered by the wildlife authorities of San Martin and run by many specialists in their field. This type of visit is very important as they take a general evaluation of the centres, enclosures, constructions, staff capacities, and the physical health and behaviour of the animals present. Unfortunately many tests required for a full check are not available in Peru, so NPC are currently in discussions with multiple institutions to make sure these tests become available for rescued primates to avoid release of sick animals to the wild. The carers at each of the centres participated in all aspects of the visits and were encouraged to learn from the process and to ask about the different animals’ health, behaviours and possible treatments. Since the beginning of this grant period NPC has been involved in the reporting, rescue, confiscation, care and/or transport of 1078 animals.
www.wildfutures.org | info@wildfutures.org | www.monkeysanctuary.org
Remembering those that have left a legacy
How books are helping Wild Futures Our wonderful long-term supporter, Angela Humphry, has written a book titled ‘Memoirs of a Party Animal’. Angela adopts Joey, and she wants to help fundraise for the animal charities that she supports, so she kindly donates proceeds of the book sales to us! www. amazon.co.uk/Memoirs-Party-Animal-Angela-Humpheryebook/dp/B00RKH9A7A
Banjo and Roccita We are always extremely grateful to receive legacies from people who have left a gift to our charity in their will. Wild Futures is the only UK charity with the holistic approach that combines an educational, environmental and sustainability ethos dedicated to promoting the welfare, conservation and survival of our closest living relatives, the non-human primates, whilst working to end the primate trade and abuse of primates in captivity, promoting the rehabilitation of captive primates and the preservation of those in the wild, and operating a sanctuary for primates in need of a long-term home. We receive no government funding, so financial support is vital to allow us to continue our work. Legacies are vital in enabling us to continue our work protecting primates and habitats worldwide, as well as making it possible to rescue abused and neglected monkeys to give them a safe home for life. Leaving a gift to Wild Futures in your will really is the greatest gift that someone who cares about primates and the planet can make. We have recently installed a small “memory tree” at our Sanctuary site, to remember those who have kindly left us a legacy or gift in memory. It is located at the front of the house, which has a beautiful view over our wildlife gardens and beyond to the stunning coastline and the sea. Those who have left us a gift have their names in-
scribed on plaques on the “memory tree”, often along with special messages from their loved ones. If at any time you wish to discuss leaving a legacy or gift in memory to Wild Futures, please contact us on 01503 262532 or email giving@wildfutures.org How Your Gift Can Make a Difference Here are just some of the ways that your gift can make a difference to our work: £1,000 covers the costs of essential veterinary and health checks for a newly rescued monkey £15,000 funds a year-long campaign to work on improving primate welfare in the UK and overseas £20,000 builds a new monkey enclosure, with spacious indoor and outdoor areas, so that more monkeys can be rescued and given a safe home for life £35,000 allows us to feed 40 rescued monkeys a nutritious and varied diet for a whole year £100,000 allows us to construct a new education centre so that we can inspire adults and young people alike on primate protection, the environment and conservation issues All gifts, no matter how small will help us to continue our vital work.
Angela is not the only one using her skills and passion to raise money for us: ‘Let There Be Happiness’ was written by David Bailey. David states “writing a novel wasn’t my plan for retirement, however, my interest in how science is transforming our lives gave me the idea for a novel based on the question: ‘If science really could make us happier, would it necessarily be a good thing?’”. David’s novel is available on Amazon/Kindle with proceeds donated to Wild Futures. Gemma Lawrence is a longterm supporter and employee at Wild Futures. Gemma writes historical novels, and has had a love for the Tudors since she was a child; many of her books are centred around that period. She combines her passion for writing with her love for primates by donating some of the kindle sales of one of her books to Wild Futures. You can find out more about her books here: www.amazon.co.uk/G.Lawrence/e/B00YGM615Q/ ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
www.wildfutures.org | info@wildfutures.org | www.monkeysanctuary.org
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monkey facts There are over 600 species and subspecies of primate and they are divided into 3 main groups: apes, monkeys and prosimians. s, which into Old World monkey ed rat pa se are s ey nk Mo nkeys, rica and New World mo evolved in Asia and Af Americas which are found in the lligence Monkeys possess high levels of inte and good memories.
Kodak moment!
Monkey word searsch Find the 10 monkey specie
MARMOSET • CAPUCHIN • WOOLLY • MACAQUE • MANDRILL VERVET • HOWLER • SQUIRRELMONKEY • SPIDERMONKEY • BABOON
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www.wildfutures.org | info@wildfutures.org | www.monkeysanctuary.org
Community Fundraising
Plan your own event There are many ways in which you can raise funds and support Wild Futures. Wildthemed mufti days, cake sales or a wild hair day are just a few ways to get involved; but feel free to be creative!
Lisa Sinden We have had such incredible community fundraising activities being carried out by our phenomenal supporters; from cake sales, to head shaves, we are always bowled over by the new and innovative ideas our supporters come up with. One of our long-term dedicated supporters, Lisa Sinden, has raised over £750 for us by shaving her head! Here she explains her motivation in doing this fantastic fundraiser for us. “My first holiday to Cornwall included a visit to Wild Futures’ Monkey Sanctuary. I had already adopted Kirsty and then soon after Joey, and I was excited to see them! I follow the Sanctuary on Facebook; the video story about Joey made me cry. The primate carers were so friendly during my visits, their knowledge and passion for these rescued animals is quite special. One night when I couldn’t sleep I decided that I would shave my hair for Wild Futures! I set up the just giving page right there and then, and began my fundraising efforts. Now that it has happened, it does feel odd having a grade one shave! I am proud of the fantastic amount of money raised for an amazing charity, which I shall forever support. “ Ambassador Emmie Bryant came up with a unique way to raise funds when she persuaded a group of friends to join her in a Ten Day Monkey Diet! In March, the friends were only allowed to eat from the same list of foods that are given to the capuchin monkeys at our Sanctuary. Whilst the capuchins do enjoy a varied and balanced diet, it is obviously very different from what the participants were accustomed to eating! The group raised over £700, which is
an incredible amount! Here is what they thought of the challenge: Emmie Bryant: “In terms of how it went, it wasn’t too bad. I felt more energetic and awake, which makes me worry about how much rubbish we normally consume and makes me even more vehement that monkeys kept as pets are not getting the right nutrition. I hugely missed tea and coffee and being able to have any kind of sauce on things. I think the hardest moment was going to the pub to catch up with a friend and having to order a glass of tap water while she got a glass of wine...” Kirsty Graham: “It’s been a lot of fun doing the Monkey Diet - such a great idea! The fruit and veg that I ate wasn’t that different, but I really missed the seasoning.”
Organising an event can be both fun and rewarding, from coffee mornings to parachute jumps; swishing parties to a jumble sale, the list is endless! We have created a fundraising pack to help you with everything you need to organise your own event, everything from tips and hints to how to write a press release. Here are a few basic tips: 1. Ask your company to match your sponsorship if you are taking part in a sponsored event. 2. Think about whether there is anywhere in your local area that may be willing to hold a collection box, e.g. a pub, gym, café etc. 3. Let your sponsors determine the length of the challenge, e.g. raise £40 and you’ll run 40 miles, or raise £400 and you’ll cycle 400 miles!
Sophia Daoudi: “The Monkey Diet was definitely challenging, but it gave me some good ideas for alternative recipes in my normal diet!” Debbie Bryson: “I found the challenge OK, the hardest things were the lack of cooking, seasoning and dressings…and if I am honest, not being able to drink wine! My energy levels were at an all-time high too.” Ben Turnbull: “It was good albeit as challenging as you’d expect. The main challenge was the missing dimension of cooked meals without seasoning but overall I felt better for eating what turns out to be a healthier and cleaner diet!” All the monkeys and staff at Wild Futures thank each and every one of our fundraisers! You are all incredible, and without your dedicated support, we would struggle to continue with our work.
Our fundraising team are always excited to hear of new fundraising events. If you have any ideas or would like a fundraising pack do not hesitate to get in touch; just email fundraising@wildfutures.org.
www.wildfutures.org | info@wildfutures.org | www.monkeysanctuary.org
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We would like to say a huge thank-you to all of you. There are many ways you help us with our work, through our adoption scheme, donations, organising an event and much more. Each and every supporter plays an important role in the work of Wild Futures, by helping us to continue our charity’s vital work protecting primates and habitats worldwide and rescuing monkeys from conditions of abuse and neglect, to giving them a safe home for life at our Sanctuary. We are able to continue fighting for the future of all primates because of you. Once again, a huge thank-you from all of the monkeys and staff at Wild Futures. Without wonderful people like you, our vital work, protecting primates and habitats, would not be possible.
Pablo
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Donations
Donations – Please fill in the form below to make your donation – Your generous gift today makes it possible for us to continue our work – Thank you!
A To make a donation to our Marmoset Appeal To make a general donation I would like to make a donation to Wild Futures of £ Cheque / PO made payable to ‘Wild Futures’
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B Alternatively, to donate online, please go to www.wildfutures.org Yes! I would like to Gift Aid my donation and all donations I make in the future or have made in the past 4 years to Wild Futures. I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any difference. I will notify Wild Futures of any changes to my name or address, or if I no longer pay sufficient tax or wish to cancel this declaration. I would like to receive the monthly email update on Wild Futures’ work.
www.wildfutures.org | info@wildfutures.org | www.monkeysanctuary.org
Newsletter No. 40
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Thank You!