Sunday, April 22, 2007

Brad Pitt give us some money will ya?

Two of the resident chimps have been having a terrible time of it at the moment. The seemingly malaria epidemic we are having has started effecting the other groups. Which is a major problem as administering medication 3 times a day for 7 days to the older chimps is a tad difficult. The workers go in with the group Pendeza is in, but catching her would be a nightmare 21 times. They learn after the first time so there would be no chance. And Shantale, in with the bigger guys is a complete no go as nobody ever goes in there.
So solitary confinement was the only option. Pendeza was fairly easy to anaesthetize and remove, but Shantale more tricky. Firstly she was hidden out of sight so we had no idea what condition she was in. Thankfully she was in the smaller room on her own, easier to remove- until two of her mates, Salamabila and Biega realised what was about to happen, dragged her through two enclosures and stood round guarding her. Clever buggers. Eventually she was anaesthetized and taken out, with minimal disturbances. Only Kytoko ended up in the group next door for a day or two, but then she was pining for her friends so she went back into her own group with ease.
So Brad, this is where we could do with a dollar or two. The two girls are in cages maybe 1m x 1m, 24 hours a day for 8 days. We simply do not have the facilities to house the sick animals away from the others to treat properly. It is heartbreaking to see them in the cages, but we have no choice if they are to get better. Halfway through and they are both still surviving. I’m sure they’ve been through worse, and they’ll be back with their buddies soon.
The cages are well wrong though. I think they’re from when the centre used to do research- they have a kind of false wall at the back with metal poles attached that come out at the front, I assume so the animal can be flattened against the front of the cage to administer whatever gruesome things they used to give them back in the day.
But soon once we have our millions we will have the proper facilities!!!

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