We were at the quarantine station as soon as it opened at 7:30am, to meet the vet who would help us bring our boys home. After a long month in quarantine, Barbary Macaques, Jonathan, Solomon, David and Stav and Marmosets Pecan and Shacked were ready for release. The Macaques were lightly sedated by the vet, Dr David Pretorius who checked them all before transporting them to the sanctuary. He stayed with all the primates for an hour after their arrival at the sanctuary to make sure they were all well before leaving.
First, we released the Marmosets, Pecan and Shacked into their new enclosure. A volunteer sat outside to encourage them as they investigated their new home. We thought that they may be afraid, but they enjoyed the freedom of more space and were soon playing with each other.
The Macaques were released in pairs into adjoining enclosures. They were housed in pairs in quarantine and we wanted to be sure that they were still friends before putting them all back together. We are keeping them separate to monitor their behaviour towards one another until Sunday, and if all goes well we can open the trap door between their enclosures and hopefully they can all be together again. They were all a little afraid at first, but soon made friends with the volunteers when they were handed some treats. This afternoon, they enjoyed watching the labourers working on the very large outdoor area of their enclosure. We are going to build platforms in the large trees in their enclosure – so that they can climb up and sit in them. By this evening, all our newcomers looked very relaxed.
Volunteers were on a rota to sit with all the newcomers all day and feed them treats as a way of bonding with them.
We are all delighted with the new additions to our family and look forward to caring for them.
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