Hey Hey We’re the Monkeys…

Hi! It’s me Sophie again… The next to join our monkey troop was Pougi, a crab-eating or long-tailed macaque.  He has a reputation for being grumpy, but he isn’t. He does love to poke people with his beautiful long tail, though.  When all the humans are not around, he is pretty chill. I have seen him let long time animal caregiver, Karen Colwell, groom him at the end of the day. When no one is around and everything is quiet, he sticks his belly out against the cage or presses his face to the bars for a scratch. His eyes begin to droop and then close and he falls asleep for a few minutes, content in this special interaction.  Like me, Pougi was also a pet and came to us from the SPCA when he was 8 years old. His “owner” gave him up because he was becoming aggressive.   He was most likely smuggled from Asia. Macaques need space to climb, run and swing.  In the wild they would travel many miles a day foraging for food. Pougi lived in Gloria’s sunroom at first, just like I did, but then moved to the renovated llama barn and now we all live together in the new and improved Monkey House. Pougi actually has access to the old home at the llama barn as well.  He rambles along his long tunnel each morning to the other side, but always comes back before dinnertime! Pougi loves to eat.  I have never seen him reject anything!  He was quite a roly-poly guy for a while, with a cute Buddha belly. Lately he has lost some weight, probably caused by diabetes.  Pougi and Theo, the olive baboon, appear to have bonded through the cages and make grooming noises and present their butts to one another in hopes for a grooming session.  Because Theo is 3 times the size of Pougi and macaques and baboons don’t naturally live together, we have not allowed them to interact without the safety of bars.  As much as they might enjoy each other’s company, it would be tragic if an injury were to occur.      

Class:  Mammals
Order: Primates
Family:  Old World Monkeys
Scientific Name:  Macaca fascicularis
Typical lifespan: Approximately 30-35 years
Length: 20 inches with a tail length longer than head and body length
Weight 15 to 20 lbs
Diet: Wide variety of foods including fruit, crabs, shellfish, flowers, insects, leaves, fungi, grasses and clay
Home: Except for humans, macaques are the most widely spread primate, but the crab-eating macaque is usually found in the rain forests of Southeast Asia.

Hello! It's me Sophie! Just wanted to let you know how I am doing and tell you about the rest of us living here in the monkey house. You should see our wonderful gardens that the gardeners designed with us in mind. Every year they grow more and more spectacular! I am doing well, though age is getting the better of me. I'm about 37 years old now and suffer from diabetes but have responded well to medication. Considering my life expectancy in the wild is only 25 years old, I certainly am a strong and feisty old girl! I still absolutely adore grapes and little creamers. They are what keep me alive!!  

Sophie enjoying one of her little creamers

An aerial view of the lovely monkey gardens

Little Miss Sophie

The next friend to join me was our majestic Theo, the olive baboon. He is approximately 16 years old. Theo arrived from the University of Western Ontario in the fall of 2003. Theo was born in Kenya and most probably taken from his mother in the first few months of his life. The university used him as a blood donor for kidney transplant studies. Although baboons are land-dwellers, Theo loves surveying the world from high above and sleeps on a specially made rock platform at the highest point possible in the monkey house. He is curious and meticulous. He is careful not to get his fingers dirty when eating, especially anything sticky. Baboons are known as dogs of the Savannah and true to his roots, he often barks out warnings to passing tractors or trucks. He is strong, powerful and graceful and can move with lightning speed. Baboons can be found in landscapes as diverse as deserts to rain forests, which makes then easily adaptable to new and changing environments. Theo has certainly adapted well to life in Quebec and will even go out in winter on sunny days! He also enjoys many specialities from the garden grown just for him.

Class: Mammals
Order: Primates
Family: Old World Monkeys
Scientific Name: Papio anubis
Typical lifespan: 25 to 30 years in the wild
Height: 700 mm (2.30 ft.) for males and females approximately 600 mm (1.97 ft.)
Weight: 24 kg (52.9 lb.) for males and 14.7 kg (32.4 lb.) for females (in the wild)
Diet: "Baboons are opportunistic omnivores and selective feeders. Grass makes up a
large part of their diet, along with berries, seeds, pods, blossoms, leaves, roots, bark
and sap from a variety of plants. Baboons also eat insects and small quantities of meat,
such as fish, shellfish, hares, birds, vervet monkeys, and small antelopes."
(http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/baboon)
Home: Equatorial Africa

Theo surveying his surroundings

Theo enjoying his outdoor enclosure

Darla and Newton are the last to join our troop. They came to us from an Ontario university in 2005. Newton was born in 1998 and was brought to North America from a
supply house in China. Darla is 25. The rhesus macaque is one of the most often used monkeys in scientific research. Because of their size, easy maintenance, gentle nature, and similar anatomy to humans, they much too often fall victim to living a life in a laboratory. Unlike the Great Apes, they are also not on an endangered or critical species list, making them easier for researchers to obtain. Darla (previously known as R87) and Newton exhibit neurotic behaviours caused by life in a lab. Darla covers her right eye repeatedly when agitated and Newton self-mutilates. Darla often carries soft plastic toys as a comfort, like a security blanket, wherever she goes. She was used in anorexia studies and so food can cause her much stress. The caregivers feed her directly or separately from Newton so she can eat without any anxiety. We decided to see if they could be housed together here at Fauna, to give them both some much-deserved social interaction. Darla is a lovely, but nervous middle age lady who has accepted her rambunctious roommate. She grooms him and tries to find her own quiet space when he starts, quite literally, bouncing off the walls. Newton, also known as The Newt is a funny and energetic guy. He is believed to have cataracts, but gets around well and you cannot tell he has any vision problems.

Darla was recently featured in Maximum Tolerated Dose by Karol Orzechowski.
Please check it out at: http://maximumtolerateddose.org/

Darla, a.k.a. R-87

Class: Mammals
Order: Primates
Family: Old World Monkeys
Scientific Name: Macaca mulatta
Typical lifespan: 25 years old
Height: 53 cm (21 in.) for males and 47 cm (19 in.) for
Weight: 7.7 km (17 lbs.) for males and 5.3 kg (12 lbs.) for females (in the wild)
Diet: Mostly herbivores but do eat insects, eggs and fish
Home: South, Central and Southeast Asia

Newton enjoying a sunny day

Darla enjoying a zen moment

The handsome Newt