Gizmo 1998 - 2003

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that we lost Gizzy to the pleurisy that he was fighting, the day before yesterday on Wednesday, September 10th about 4 pm. Our hearts are breaking.

Gizmo was a tufted capuchin born on April 24, 1998 and the ham of Jungle Friends. He lived with his best friends Tyler and little Louie, his surrogate mother Connie, Buddie, Rita and Iris.

Gizmo was the typical little boy, until cancer struck. He battled cancer daily and had to be taken out of his group when he had one of his seizures and was recuperating. After an attack, Connie would be the first to be let into the clinic to be with Gizmo where she would groom and fuss over him. When Gizzy regained more strength, he was reunited with his other monkey friends. All who met Gizzy, human and non-human alike, adored him. He would share his food with anyone who would take it, he would even chew it for you first . Upon introduction, Gizzy would ask for your hand to hold and lip smack wonderful monkey kisses all the while and you would never forget his gentle nature.

We had oxygen brought out to Gizzy here at Jungle Friends - Nicole held the small mask over his face to ease his collapsed lungs. Lee made an oxygen tent for him to provide an oxygen rich area for Gizzy. Dr. Reyes came back out here and tapped his lungs again. We did all that we could do for our little Gizzy.

Gizzy died in our arms during a healing Dr. Reyes was performing on his tiny body. His human and monkeys friends were all around him as he went from this world to the next.

Gizzy's monkey friends had been calling for Gizmo during the time he was in the farm house and they cried when they saw his lifeless body. Connie, Gizzy's surrogate mother, was the first to come to pay her respects to Gizzy. She wrapped her little arm around his neck and held him tight, then turned her head and walked away to let the others say their good-byes.

Gizmo's monkey friends will miss his friendship and his outrageous play, but the monkeys seem to hold death differently than most humans. We are all grieving here at Jungle Friends, but we celebrate the gift that Giz was to all of us. Gizmo showed us that miracles do happen when he was healed during his medical crisis over a year ago. Gizzy brought pleasure to us everyday with his screams of delight when we tucked him in at night or when a special friend would come to visit, and he had many special friends. Gizzy is free - free of pain and free of the bars that held him captive.

Thank you so much for all of your generous donations toward Gizzy's medical bills. Once they are paid off, all donations for Gizmo will go into a special "Gizmo Memorial Fund" to purchase the much needed medical equipment for our on-site clinic so that we can accommodate everyone right here at Jungle Friends. This will allow us to quickly give the monkeys in our care the medical support right here at home, such as oxygen and IV fluids when they are ill. This will be so much less stressful when they are sick, rather than having to be in an unfamiliar environment for extended periods of time, as Billy was during his renal failure last July.

Gizmo's memory will live on here at Jungle Friends and not a day will go by that we do not think fondly of him and remember the contribution that Gizmo made to all who knew him. Gizmo was a dear friend to so many - human and non-human alike. I am so sorry. I miss him so.

FINAL REPORT ON GIZMO

We have a final report on little Gizmo who passed on September 10, 2003. Due to his weakened immune system from previous health problems (seizures, anemia and cancer), Gizmo contracted avian tb. This is something that the wild birds in the area carry naturally, but that poses no threat to monkeys or humans, unless they are immune deficient. Our vet told us that little Gizzy had been living on borrowed time for over two years. Jungle Friends still feels empty without little Giz around to scream hello to you, reach out his arms for you and offer you a bit of his food, but we count ourselves lucky to have known him.