Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Bush meat, Cameroon, Guenon, endangered species | Date: Nov 27 2008 | By: limbewildlifecentre

The most common monkey in the Mount Cameroon area is the mona monkey. Of all the guenons it is the most adaptable species, so even in degradated forests and close to humans it still survives. This makes them vulnerable for hunting, because they are more visible then the species that live high up in the closed canopy. As a result, many mona monkeys are killed for bushmeat or captured as pets. Takway and Bakassi are two mona monkeys that were lucky enough to end up in the Limbe Wildlife Centre and yesterday they were transferred from the quarantine to the guenon enclosure.

As I have spend much time with Takway, who needed 24 hour care when she just arrived, I could just hold her and take her to the other side of the centre. Bakassi was carried in a box. Inside the enclosure the older monkeys came to have a look, sniffing through the holes in the box and reaching out for Takway, who was holding on to my hair. Motumba, a putty nosed monkey who likes to mother over youngsters, also came to sit on my shoulder, which made Takway scream. I could not see what was going on on my head, but the screaming slowly changed into a soft oooweeeh, oooweeeh, which is a sign that it is okay. Then Motumba grabbed Takway and pulled her away from my hair. Right away Takway was fine with this arrangement and she held on to this strange big monkey.

When I opened the box Bakassi ran out, sniffed some of the other monkeys and decided that it was a nice new place to live. The rest of the days she has been climbing and running and even bathing in the water basin. After a while Takway separated herself from Motumba and joined Bakassi in her play. It was a very easy and successful introduction.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries

Assistant Project Manager