Some great news! The WAO monkeys are finally leaving the WAO! Thank you God!!! Bad news is -- Born Free is not telling the truth about the health conditions of the WAO macaques. Just another sanctuary going out of its way to absolve the WAO board of directors and its workers of their horrible health care treatment they provided the WAO animals. I pray the WAO workers never find employment working around animals ever again.
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/bfusablog.php?p=3340&more=1
by Will Travers,
Born Free USA Blog
by Will Travers,
Chief Executive Officer
Let the Rescue Begin!
One of the most special days in Born Free USA’s history has arrived. We are ready, and we are excited!
Today the first batch of more than 100 monkeys from the Wild Animal Orphanage arrives at our Primate Sanctuary in south Texas. Last year we struck a deal to provide lifetime care for the macaques (and one baboon) after the WAO went bankrupt. In the eight months since, Director Tim Ajax and the rest of our sanctuary’s staff members have been working extra hard to build enclosures and make all the other necessary preparations for the WAO monkeys’ arrival.
The agreement, which represents one of the largest macaque rescues (if not the largest) in U.S. history, has tremendous financial ramifications for our organization. We are committed to providing abundant nutritional food, spacious and recreationally rich enclosures, and a minimum of human involvement (by our highly trained and devoted staff) so that the monkeys can live out their lives as naturally as is possible. None of that is cheap, and we do not cut corners.
One of our greatest challenges will be to keep our soon-to-be-600-plus residents comfortable in what can be extreme weather conditions. Last year, for example, the region suffered through a crippling heat wave and drought. We do all we can to provide ample shade and water, but again, tremendous expenses are involved.
So as we bring you updates about today’s 10 WAO arrivals on our sanctuary’s Facebook page, in our photo gallery and elsewhere, please consider making a donation to our Rescue & Rehabilitation Fund to help us in this endeavor — one of the most significant things we will ever do. Thank you for your support.
Blogging off,
Will
Will
Press Releases
Born Free USA Begins Mass Transfer of Macaques from Bankrupt Sanctuary
The happy ending of a two-year saga for 106 macaques [the number was 110 macaques according to bankruptcy court documents on 11.21.11] and one baboon is finally here. On Wednesday (July 25) the first group of these animals — 10 stump-tailed macaques — are scheduled to be transported from their former home at the now-closed Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO) in San Antonio to their new home at the 186-acre Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, about an hour away.
According to Adam Roberts, executive vice president of Born Free USA, “Last year, Born Free USA worked for months with The Wild Animal Orphanage and the Texas Attorney General to find a way to help these animals. If we didn’t step in with a plan, this large group of primates would likely have been euthanized. Since finalizing the details in November 2011 [Born Free received $250k to take in the monks last year, with another $250k promised when the Talley Road land is sold], our sanctuary has spent the past eight months building proper facilities and preparing for our new residents. [Not true! According to TX OAG Open Records, construction of the macaques' enclosure began in March of this year! ] Their new home is ready and we are eager to get them here and help them in their transition.”
On Aug. 31, 2010, the WAO announced the decision to dissolve the sanctuary “due to overpopulation, underfunding and inadequate housing for the animals.” According to the WAO board, they were in a “do or die situation” and they had to find placement for more than 100 macaques, 55 tigers, 14 African lions, 16 chimpanzees, six wolf hybrids, and 20 baboons. Sanctuaries were found for all of these animals, in part through the leadership of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), of which Born Free USA is a member.
But finding a home for the primates presented the biggest challenge. In addition to the number of macaques involved, there are other highly complicated issues including: their sensitive social groupings — 12 different animal groupings with troops as small as three and as large as 28; the age range — from under 1 year old to some in their 30s; many physical health conditions from cataracts to skin and age-related bone issues; and a multitude of mental health issues many still suffer from as a result of their captivity prior to their life at the WAO. [NOT TRUE! The mental health issues were the result of the care they received at the WAO not from their prior captors! -- This is shameful reporting and I am immensely disappointed in Born Free.]
At the spacious Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, according to Tim Ajax, director of the sanctuary, “these animals will join the current 532 primate residents and live in the best enclosures we can provide.”
Now that they have all been thoroughly medically tested, sterilized and identified, and the Born Free USA facility and staff are ready for their transition, the moves are schedule to start — initially in four groups, from July 25 through Aug. 17.
Ajax, who is coordinating and overseeing the entire move, says, “This is a very delicate move with many challenges for the animals and our staff. We are excited about the opportunity to assist them and anxious to get our new residents acclimated and comfortable, while also taking great care of our existing 500 animals.”
Roberts adds, “Every day wild animals need to be rescued from ‘pet owners,’ laboratories, roadside zoos, and other abusive circumstances, but this time it is about a large sanctuary having to shut down completely — a place where these animals were already once saved. Wild animals belong in the wild and these scenarios should never exist at all. Sanctuaries are filled to capacity, costly to run, and are the only aid we can give these animals.”
Among the more than 100 primates is Chappy, a crab-eating macaque, who was a biomedical research subject. The stress of life in the lab led him to pluck his body bald. [Stress from WAO captivitiy} Dex, a stump-tail macaque also used in research, has only his thumb and index finger on his right hand [had nothing to do with research - Dex lost his fingers fighting at the WAO. There were many monkesy with missing fingers and tails, all reported to the USDA in 2006]. Chappy and Dex, along with Maddie, Leo, Stiggy and dozens of others, all suffered at the hands of humans before they found initial sanctuary at the WAO. [LIes...Lies...all lies...these animals suffered in the hands of the WAO workers. The WAO refused to provide health care to its animals!]
To learn the truth about the WAO macaques, click HERE.
Kris, if not for you, what happened at WAO would have remained a secret atrocity. The NIH and the individual Universities are ultimately responsible for everything that befell the primates they so irresponsibly shipped to WAO. The parties at UW had no excuse not to be aware that naive persons could not possibly care adequately for stumptailed macaques who were an intact society and would fiercely defend one another. Those who had spent years in single cages may have been different, but the group from Vilas Zoo/ UW was its own nation.
Thanks for all your efforts, Kris. I am only sad that my vision for the care and preservation of the stumptailed macaque nation in the U. S. -- for them to have fulfiiling lives living outdoors with their family members and their friends in future, and for future human generations to see and appreciate them, could not be realized.
Best regards,
You should write a book about all you had to go thru to bring this about.
Take care.
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7.25.12
The first move of ten stump-tailed macaques went like clockwork and everyone came through in great shape. The WAO team did an excellent job and we're looking forward to releasing the monkeys out into a larger enclosure within the next several days. Here's a picture of one of the males checking out his new surroundings.
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The first ten stump-tails from WAO were released out into the main enclosure this morning! They couldn't wait to get out and explore and zipped through the gate into their new home. They split up and came back together in small groups many times during the first several hours, grunting softly back and forth to each other for reassurance. They LOVE mesquite beans! More pics and hopefully some video soon...
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Thank You for this, Kris.
IF these are the stumps from the Vilas Zoo/UW , then the big male with the red face might be
Ylia or Yves, and already over 20 years old.
The "Y" family had a matriarch named (before my time there)
"Yolinda". Then she had daughters Yolk and Yam, and then
sons Yeroen (Dutch name from when Frans De Waal was there), Yves, Ylia and
Eagle. Yolinda died when Eagle was just
an infant, as she was elderly when she had him, and some post-birth
complications or infection. It was
fascinating to see that the three brothers, Yeroen, Yves, and Ylia, took turns
carrying their infant brother, 24 hours a day, and would let the caretakers
bottle feed him thru an enclosed wire mesh area
that I had built. One of the
caretakers thought it was awesome that the stumps "understood" they
had to bring the baby to him for milk/feeding several times a day. Although Yeroen's mother had been the
lowest ranking mother in the group, after Yeroen took charge and organized
everything to care for the baby, he later became the alpha male/group
leader. Everyone seemed impressed
with his "foreign policy" skills -- negotiating with the caretakers
as he did!
This guy looks not quite yet recovered from anesthesia, or
groggy from his trip?
Again, IF these are the Vilas stumptails, the dark face
female on the raised climbing device might possibly be Wilma or Wyroon. Wilma and Wyroon are granddaughters of the
oldest living stumptailed macaque on record, Wolf, whose "obituary"
was published in our local paper! Looks like she had a baby sometime not too
long ago. Wilbur was their brother, but
may not have survived and would now be 20.
The juvenile on the right in the photo would have been born after they
left Wisconsin, but looks like an "S" family relative -- formerly the
largest "middle class" family of the group. They have a class structure in addition to a
hierarchy among individuals.
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