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Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Dear Jungle Friends Monkey Fans,

My name is Elizabeth Peterson and I am currently an intern here at Jungle Friends. I hope to open a sanctuary quite similar to JF for pet and research monkeys. And of course, I came to the right place! I have immensely enjoyed working with both the monkeys and the staff here, and have learned a great deal from both Kari and Lee, whom I consider to be both incredible mentors and people. Because Kari is currently working hard preparing grants and the upcoming newsletter, she has given the task of sending out this edition of the Jungle News. I hope you enjoy it, as I have enjoyed writing it.

September 2, 2004:

Every month we check Connie’s glucose level to make sure it isn’t rising. Unfortunately, it has been very high lately; but the good news is that our recent check showed it has decreased immensely! Connie’s BG was about 350 last month and is now down to under 250.

August 19th, 2004:

The squirrel monkeys from the lab arrived! Buddy, Howard, Moses and Gilbert McGreedy are doing just great. For those who haven't heard their history, here it is: All four monkeys were taken out of their natural habitats in the rainforest and used in research for nearly two decades in two different facilities. The research ended and rather than sell the monkeys to another facility, the good folks at the university decided to retire them here at Jungle Friends and for that we are very grateful.

Buddy, who we are calling Buddy Boy, is completely blind. He still manages quite well by memorizing everything in his cage, though he can get very frustrated at times. He is, however, very smart and has enjoyed using the new bowl attached to the outside of his cage; we gave them new bowls with treats so they can get used to finding food in the runways when we build their new outdoor habitats.

Howard is going blind, though he doesn't act the part. He still has a good portion of his vision and is very curious with his surroundings. Howard has enjoyed his new toys and diet; he has an enormous appetite and when given a peanut, he quickly responds with his famous "peanut dance"!

Moses has a very sweet disposition but is very sensitive and becomes nervous with change. He gave us quite a scare when he stopped eating for nearly a day; he began eating again and has been fine ever since.

Gilbert McGreedy is an active male who seems very independent, decisive, and strong-willed; he has shown quite an interest in Moses, who often can be seen reaching for him and observing him. We hope that in the future we can introduce these four old boys together.

Unfortunately, Buddy, Howard, Moses and Gilbert McGreedy are still in the small lab cages, and we need to build suitable habitats for them, both indoor and outdoor, before they can be socialized. We hope to receive more funds for their new habitats; please help us if you can, we are only lacking about $8000. We also need sponsors for the boys; Buddy Boy got his first sponsorship, thanks again Joanna! So if you might be interested in donating, consider sponsoring one of the boys through our S-A-M program.

We are happy to report that Jungle Friends has received grants for the lab monkeys new habitats from the New England Anti-Vivisection, National Anti-Vivisection, Messengers and an anonymous donor here in Gainesville! We are only short about $6000. Kari took a leap of faith and ordered the habitats, so we hope the remainder of the funds comes in soon.

August 5th, 2004:

Precious, a female tufted capuchin arrived to JF with her human "mom" after a long trip from Indiana. She was purchased when she was only three days old and kept as a pet. Precious began attacking and they were forced to lock her in a separate room and feed her under the door until they could find a sanctuary placement for Precious. She arrived on August 5th, 2004.

Precious is acclimating well. She has been interested in several monkeys, including Cody, Buddie and Murphy, and she has had several socializations, one monkey at a time. Cody and Precious played until they dropped and enjoyed many grooming sessions, but Cody soon missed Baby Rosie, so we moved him back into his group. Precious is very friendly with the other monkeys, immediately initiating play and attempting to groom them. We hope that soon she can be socialized with her own permanent group and we are confident that she will continue to make friends.

Stinky and Puchi Update:

Stinky and Puchi arrived; you can read more about their histories on our website (www.junglefriends.org). Since their arrival both monkeys have been doing extremely well. For quite some time, they both lived together in the clinic indoor/outdoor habitats; they lived together at the previous facility, so we kept them together here while we assessed their needs. They played and groomed each other; however, they’re personalities are very different, and they would become frustrated with each other. Stinky is very rambunctious and playful; she was constantly attempting to engage Puchi in rough play. To remedy this, we moved them in with monkeys of their own species and temperament; they couldn't be better!

Puchi is content living a quite, peaceful existence, foraging and grooming with Happy Cappy. Stinky was socialized with Korey, Corky, and Kelli. The group melded together nicely and Stinky has a new best friend in Korey. The two love to rough house together and are constantly playing - running and jumping through the monkey rain and into the barrels and back out. It is quite the sight to see the two happily playing together. She also loves Corky, who she often wrestles with, and Kelli, who she spends many afternoons laying down with in their cool indoor enclosure away from the sun.

Udi Update:

Udi just keeps on growing! We estimate Udi to be about six to seven pounds now. Udi should have weighed three times what he weighed when he arrived, so he still has some catching up to do. We are hopeful that Udi will be able to recover from the bone disease. He has gained weight and is getting quite tall. Udi's overbite is lessening and his jaw is getting stronger. He spends his day playing outside and is developing his brachiating skills. Udi now knows how to use his tail efficiently and is beginning to walk bipedally. He also can jump great distances and loves to jump up and down when he gets excited. We plan to introduce Udi with Travis when the doctors give the OK, but we must wait until Udi's bones are strong enough. Udi's medical bills are expensive, so if you would like to help Udi, please consider sponsoring him (see our website for details: www.junglefriends.org).

The next newsletter is almost finished and will be out soon. If you would like to receive a free “Monkey Business” newsletter please email CJ@junglefriends.org with your postal address and we will put you on the mailing list. You will learn much more about what has been going on over the past year. The newsletter is over 20 pages with lots of photos and Jungle News.

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Jungle News,