By Natalie Blachford | Project Leader
Successful release for 22 rescued vervet monkeys in Zambia, thanks to your support!
After months of preparation and upon receiving the all clear from the troop’s pre-release health screening, on the 7th and 8th October the Zambia Primate Project, supported by Born Free, safely transferred their 2022 release troop of 22 rescued vervet monkeys to a release site deep in the bush in Kafue National Park.
The team had their work cut out trapping the 22 monkeys for release – it was no easy task as the monkeys are very clever and one dodged all their attempts to coax him using treats into his crate!
But, the skilled team persevered and all 22 monkeys were safely transferred to their temporary holding enclosure at the release site over 2 days. Once at the temporary holding enclosure, the monkeys spent nine days acclimatising to their new environment and settling down after their move from the primate pre-release facility (PTH).
The lessons learnt from the 2021 vervet release prove how important this phase is to ensuring the monkeys stay together as a cohesive troop on release day and do not go ‘missing’ when they are at their most vulnerable to predation. There is safety in numbers!
On 17th October 2022, with the troop relaxed and settled, the doors were opened to their temporary bush enclosure, and they were given their freedom. The release day started really well with the monkeys excited to have no barriers to their movement and they set about eating their morning feed peacefully and climbing trees.
Things changed abruptly in the afternoon though when a wild troop moved through and fighting broke out. This was the very first time our troop had encountered a wild troop, and as a result they scattered in all different directions at great speed. By the end of the day, three of our troop were still missing despite the team’s best efforts to find them. One wild adult male stayed and joined our troop.
Over the next few days the team searched and searched for the 3 missing monkeys (none unfortunately had radio collars as all are juveniles) and one by one they managed to track each down and reunite them with their troop. Two weeks on, the troop had settled down well and when they encountered a wild troop they moved off together, staying united as one troop along with the wild male.
Ten weeks after their release back to the wild, at the end of the year, we can report that they are doing fantastically well, led by the wild male that joined them on Day 1.
The Zambia Primate Project continue to supplement their wild diet with food but in decreasing quantities and frequency as they adapt to the wild.
It is early days, but we are happy to be over the initial release period where it is so easy for monkeys to go missing and not be found, with all 22 monkeys together and thriving.
Links:
By Dr. Liz Tyson-Griffin | Programs Director
By Victoria Lockwood | Project Leader
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