August 30, 2006 - New Arrivals: Grandma, Mike, Molly, Isabelle, Little Dodger, Macy, Christopher and Pipperoo, whew!

Dear Friends of Jungle Friends,

I must apologize again for my delay in getting news to you about the Jungle Friends monkeys! My human family needed me in Nevada when my uncle Rob died tragically in a fire. Rob had been assisting my 93-year-old grandmother (his mother) who is wheelchair bound. Grandma returned to Florida with me and she is settling in very well at the sanctuary. She's been happily socialized with all of our other human primates, and is a lively and lovable addition to our Jungle Friends family.

Since we last spoke, Jungle Friends has taken in another seven monkeys, whew! Another reason I have been out of touch. Not to mention we are short-handed right now and still in need of a caregiver. If you or anyone you know is interested in a job working with monkeys, please send them to this link: Employment. Or perhaps you are interested in an Internship. And if you just want to come and Volunteer, you are most welcome to do that too!

We are happy to report that Hurricane Ernesto has not caused us any damage, just a bit of rain and some wind. We are still in need of generators; it sure would be great if we had one that would turn on automatically when the power goes out. The one we have is very small and can only handle the well and a few other appliances, so any help in that area would be greatly appreciated!

Mike and Molly, who arrived recently, are settling in very well. Many, many thanks to Karol, our website designer and host, for sending us the additional $2,000 needed to purchase the other indoor building for the spider monkeys! Unfortunately, we were unable to get Mike and Molly's habitats from their previous home, so we now need to build another habitat that will connect to the Thunder Dome and enable us to move the rest of our spider monkeys so that they can all meet. At this time, Mike and Molly are not within view of our other five spider monkeys. We will need another $4,000 to build the new connecting habitat to get them together.

Once we get the balance of the funding and are able to get the monkeys positioned where they can all see each other, we will be sending out invitations to all our Thunder Dome donors for a get-together and to see the spider monkeys enjoying their new digs. Please consider a donation to help us bring the rest of our spider monkey troop to the Thunder Dome!

Lee is with Molly now at the University of Florida Veterinary School. Molly was quite lethargic yesterday afternoon and this morning there was little improvement. Her medical records show that Molly is diabetic, and she has been on oral medication for quite some time; however, from her appearance, she seemed to be suffering from low blood glucose. So, we gathered her up and we are waiting to hear the results.

This just in - Lee just called from the vet school and Molly's BG is only 45, yikes! Lee will be talking to the doctors very soon; I will keep everyone updated. Please send your healing thoughts and prayers to Molly.

Our vet bills have been over $700 a month for the past year, so if anyone would please donate to our Gizmo Memorial Medical Fund, that would sure be great! And of course, we're also looking for sponsors for all of our new monkeys. Our other new arrivals include:

Isabelle, a common marmoset who was being kept illegally as a "pet". When the "owner" discovered that monkeys were illegal in their area, she contacted Jungle Friends and brought Isabelle to the sanctuary. Fortunately, within a few months of her arrival, a white tufted-ear marmoset named Little Dodger arrived at the sanctuary and they were instant friends.

Little Dodger was confiscated and quarantined when he jumped from the shoulder of the "owner" at a restaurant and bit one of the diners on the ear, oops! We situated Little Dodger next door to Isabelle and they became fast friends. As soon as we got word from the vet school that Little Dodger's vasectomy was successful, we introduced the pair and it was love at first sight! They played, groomed and were intimate on their first date!

Macy is a white-faced capuchin who arrived a few months ago. She had been kept as a "pet" until she started self mutilating. The "owners" soon realized that she needed to be in the company of other monkeys and contacted Jungle Friends. We are socializing her with another new arrival, Christopher.

Macy   Christopher

Christopher is also a white-faced capuchin who was kept as a "pet" until his companion, another capuchin, died of cancer. The "owner" wanted him to live with others of his own species, so she contacted Jungle Friends. Christopher is situated next door to Macy, so we are hoping for a love-connection. We will keep you posted on the courtship.

Pipperoo is a diabetic brown capuchin who arrived recently when her "owner" was unable to continue to care for her. Pipperoo made fast friends in our diabetic group of five brown capuchins. Pipperoo is so at home with her new monkey friends, that you would think that she had lived at Jungle Friends all of her life.

To learn even more about all of our new arrivals, just click on their names in this email which will take you to their page on the website. I do hope that everyone in our Jungle Friends Family will take this time to sponsor one the Jungle Friends monkeys today. Just click Sponsor-A-Monkey to download the form (pdf format), or visit our website to browse our 2006 arrivals, and 2005 arrivals, too.

Please forward this email to your friends, family and co-workers. We are desperate for more monkey sponsors; please do what you can to help us care for the monkeys that have found their way to Jungle Friends.

Lots of monkey love,
Kari and the monks