Former WAO Capuchin Had a Baby at Jungle Friends

Everyone who worked at the WAO knew that for years the vervets and capuchin monkeys were breeding at the WAO.  The following information was obtained from Facebook and an e-newletter posted by Jungle Friends.  Keep in mind as you read this, the baby monkey birth wasn't so bad for the facility because it turned out to be a great opportunity to ask for more funding from the public.  After all, who wouldn't want to donate funds towards this cute little baby born this month:

We have good news and bad news...  

Early Monday morning Mimi alerted me to the news of a monkey birth. I rushed to the habitat and there was Michelle, a proud mother with a tiny baby on her back. The bad news is - another wild animal was born behind bars…the good news is - the baby is healthy and mom is taking excellent care of the baby. Below is Newborn Baby Monkey -- Good News and Bad News, a trailer for “The Jungle Friends Baby Monkey Story” coming soon.

If you are new to our Jungle Friends Family, you are probably wondering - what the heck is going on? A monkey born at the sanctuary, well, here’s the short story of how all this baby monkey business began…  

Last October we rescued a group of monkeys from a roadside zoo in Texas. We were told that only two of the males in the group needed vasectomies. The procedure was performed last September while I was in Texas prior to the monkey’s arrival to Jungle Friends. The vas deferens were sent in and confirmed. So we thought all was right with the world, until…several of the females were getting pretty hefty, and they looked pregnant. Last week two of the males in this same group got into a fight, neither were the boys we vasectomized in Texas. One of them had to be seen by the vet, so I asked Dr. Schirmer to check to see if the monkey had been fixed, he had not! Dr. Schirmer performed a vasectomy while he had him in at the clinic. 

The Texas monkeys have been here six months now, so the baby born Monday morning had to be conceived here! Well, you can imagine how worried that has us – we separated all the boys from the girls and we are taking the boys to the vet as soon as possible to find out if we have any other intact males and remedy the situation.

The last thing we want to see are wild animals born behind bars living out their lives in captivity, but it is what it is and we will do the very best for the infants, their mothers and any other monkeys who find their way to Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary. 

What we need from you is…HELP, we need to build more habitats, we need more volunteers, we need more money and we need more land. If you, or anyone you know has an extra $250,000, please get it to me right away so we can buy the property behind us! If not, please donate as much as you can.

You see, we have a matching funds program going on right now for our Expansion Project, so whatever you donate, will be doubled! Please donate today! 

Does this surprise me?  No.  Babies were born all the time at the WAO, and of course, the male babies were never "fixed."  I can't believe the workers lied to Jungle Friends by telling them only two monks were not fixed!  All of the males should have been examined to make sure that (1) all the parasites were gone, (2) the monks were healthy, and (3) the males were "fixed."  Sadly, there were no thorough pre-departure examines performed on the most of the departing WAO animals, resulting in lots of surprises for the accepting sanctuaries.

You know, I never did received the promised painting picture of a WAO monk living at Jungle Friends.  You may recall during the Pepsi Refresh Challenge... 

From: Tracey - Jungle Friends
To: kbrunner@...
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 11:30:38 AM
Subject: Monkey Art/Address

Dear Kristina,

Thank you for your support of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary.  We appreciate all you have done to support us in the Pepsi Refresh Project.  Our records indicate that you have sent out at least 20 emails to your friends/family and we would like to thank you with a monkey picture and art piece.

If you would reply to this message with a mailing address, I would love to get these out the mail right away.

Keep voting!!

Monkey Hugs,

Tracey 

My quick response:

From: Kristina Brunner
To: Tracey - Jungle Friends
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 11:33:17 AM
Subject: Re: Monkey Art/Address 

Greetings Tracey:

Any chance I could have a picture of Spatz and his friends (former WAO capuchins) along with the art, please?  It would really mean a lot to me.

Kristina Brunner

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Thank you very much!

Warm Regards,

Kristina

I'm still waiting for the promised art work.