Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary

Kids for Monkeys Hall of Fame

Make-A-Wish Brings
James and Wesley to Jungle Friends

The boys prepare breakfast for the marmosets and tamarins

In September, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted a wish for two Montana boys and brought them all the way to Florida to work with the monkeys at Jungle Friends. James, 15, and Wesley, 13, are brothers who were born with a rare disease called pulmonary fibrosis. This causes trouble with their lungs and makes it harder for them to breathe and be active -- but they're not going to let that stop them!

The boys pitched right with in with the sanctuary work. In the mornings, they worked in "Munchkinland", preparing breakfast for the smallest of the Jungle Friends monkeys, the tiny marmosets and tamarins. Then they helped to "furnish" a new habitat, hanging ropes and buckets for the monkeys to play with.

They also were invited to assist our veterinarian, Dr. Terry Heaton-Jones, who visits the sanctuary every Tuesday. Dr. Terry was very impressed; the boys took the monkeys' vital signs every five minutes -- Wesley was better at finding Mario's heartbeat than some of our interns and James was a master with the thermometer!

Wesley and James assist the veterinarian with Mario's examination

Of course, no visit to Jungle Friends is complete without 'Monkey Art.' The Jungle Friends monkeys love to paint, and James and Wesley were glad to assist.

Making monkey art

A new masterpiece!

!

Not wanting to be outdone by the monkeys, James and Wesley decided to create 'Human Art'! They had a painting by Mary Orem, Kari's 95-year-old grandmother, who lives with her at Jungle Friends. Both boys painted their own beautiful works of art. Even the monkeys were impressed!

We all enjoyed James and Wesley's visit. When it was time for them to go they were sorry to leave their new friends -- humans and monkeys! But before they left both boys signed up to sponsor a monkey! James sponsored Einstein and Wesley sponsored Abby!

Proud new monkey sponsors!

James with Einstein

Click on Make-A-Wish to watch the TV 20 news report about the boys' visit to Jungle Friends.

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