Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Cameroon, Simone de Vries, drill | Date: Aug 17 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Even while I was writing the blog yesterday, a drill was brought into quarantine. Ndokbangengue, or shortly Ndok, was breathing with difficulty and coughing badly. Treatment was started right away and she got her own cage next to Banyo. While Banyo seemed to get a bit more strength, Ndok was playing around a bit.

But very quickly her condition deteriorated, until the end of the day when Ndok suddenly collapsed. She was put on a drip and the whole night and following morning she was on oxigen. At 2 pm she died.

We are all very sad. We have gone through a lot with Ndok. She came to the LWC in the beginning of 2008 with a broken arm. For weeks her arm was in a cast, while one of our volunteers, Roseanna Agnew, took care of her 24 hours a day.

She grew up well, became big friends with an older female called Eyumojock. She learned the escape trick from Eyumojock, but also went in easily. Althought drills are not easy to know by name (we have 63) everybody knew Ndok. We will miss her.

Banyo is doing a little bit better than yesterday. We hope she is on the way up. These are tough times!

Best wishes,

Simone

2 responses so far

Category: Simone de Vries, drill, endangered species, rehabilitation | Date: Jul 27 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Nicky Mamfe is a female drill that came to the Limbe Wildlife Centre in February of this year. After a three months quarantine period she is now in the proces of being introduced to the other drills. The introduction is going very slowly, because Nicky has a lot of problems.

Nicky was called after Felix Lankester’s wife, who found her tied to a rope in the village of Mamfe. Nicky Lankester persuaded the owner to give up the drill and donate it to the Limbe Wildlife Centre. She had a crate made out of scrap wood and transported the drill to Limbe.

Nicky Mamfe’s spine is damaged and she has problems moving her hind legs in a normal way. On top of that, she completely lacks social skills and is afraid of the other drills. We can only guess what she has been going through, but is has left its marks both fysically and mentally. Nicky is now in a cage next to the drill enclosure and she has company of a few nice females with their young. However, during feeding we have to separate them, because Nicky is too scared to eat in their company. It is clear that this process is going to take a long time, but we will be very patient.

The drill is the most endangered primate species in Africa, with an estimated number of 3000 left in the wild. Nevertheless, hunting pressure is still very high. Drills live in large groups and mostly on the ground, which makes them very vulnerable for hunters. The hunters kill the adults, while the infants are kept alive in order to sell them as pets. Last year we rescued four drills that had been illegally kept in people’s homes.

The Limbe Wildlife Centre is now home to 62 drills. We breed with them, with the aim to do a reintroduction project in the future. As can be seen in the picture, the males are much bigger then the females. When a female is in heat, she attracks the males with a large sexual swelling. The dominant male, to be recognised by his colourfull buttocks and chin, will follow the female around, anywhere she goes, and mate with her regularly.

Hopefully one day Nicky will be a happy member of this group. With the condition of her legs she will never be able to run around like the ohers, but if she gets used to their company she can feel safe again and live a normal drill life.

Best wishes,

Simone

Tags: drill, endangered species, LWC, rehabilitation

One response so far