We have just opened a new online store on the CERCOPAN website (www.cercopan.org) offering gifts and primate adoptions. 100% of all proceeds from purchases go towards our primate rehabilitation and conservation programmes - feeding monkeys, educating children about nature and supporting our community to protect their forests. At the moment greetings cards and posters are available, but look out over the coming months as other new items will be added….

Screenshot of new online CERCOPAN store

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A big thank you to Theresa S and Brigitta S for your recent donations, there is so much going on at CERCOPAN right now and your support really does mean a great deal to all of us here.

Sadly, we are once again experiencing a peak in the number of orphaned primates coming through our doors and quarantine is now completely full. We have received 3 babies in the last month and are still hoping that we will be able to raise the money we need to build new enclosures (see emergency appeal blog). The enclosures will house not only these animals, but also some old friends that cannot leave quarantine right now as there is simply nowhere for them to go (Murphy, Abonema, Osuwake, JB and Sonic). Every donation no matter how small bring us closer to our goal.

Watch out over the coming days for a further 2 blogs from Kristine on our new arrivals, one a baby Mona named Melody, is only a week old and so requires almost constant round the clock care.

Baby Mangabey, “Quantity”

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 I want to first say hello and thank CERCOPAN for having me here at Rhoko Camp.  I am a student from Oxford Brooks University (UK) working on my Masters in Primate Conservation.  The Community of Iko Esai and CERCOPAN have been working for many years now to help save their resident monkeys.  I heard about the wonderful work and wanted to come and support this.  Much has been said about the mangabey and guenon monkeys living at Rhoko.  I however, came to study the other primates that live here.  Did you know there are many species of primates that are wild in the forest and only came out at night? Not many people have ever seen these animals, as they come out when everyone is asleep.  I will be spending my two months at Rhoko going out with night patrol and looking at bush-babies, pottos, and angwantibos.  They have large eyes that can be seen at night with a torch.

The bush-baby, one of Rhoko’s nocturnal primates

So far, I have only been here for two weeks and have found many animals! Each night brings new discoveries.  It is important to help conserve these forests because they are home to many species, and not just the ones we see during the day.  I look forward to learning much more about these primates, the forest, and the people who help protect it.

Leah and her Research Assistant Osam

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by Kristine Krynitzki

Ema is one of those babies whose big bright eyes can make even the toughest of characters heart melt. Standing no taller than ankle height, she peers up at you and immediately you want to take her into your arms and comfort her from the sadness she surely must feel from having lost her parents at such a tender age. Ema is yet another orphan who has come to CERCOPAN because, like most babies, her parents were likely killed due to the ever-present bushmeat trade.

Ema at my feet

My first encounter with Ema was a very sad one. It was late May and I was on my back to Calabar from visiting our bush site at Rhoko when my bike ran out of fuel. Taking a short break in a village while my driver went to fill up his tank, I decided to take a stroll. Shortly thereafter a man approached me carrying a small monkey with a piece of string tied around its waist, hanging by a stick. He was offering me this “pet” of his for five thousand naira. My immediate reaction was to explain to the man all of the many reasons why he should not keep monkeys as pets and why he should just give it to me. Unfortunately my efforts failed as he would not give it up without payment. I immediately notified Claire when I got back to the office and an action plan was put into place to rescue this poor soul.

In the following week our Education Officer from the bush, Mike Ekpe, visited the man many times. Although Mike is well versed in confiscating illegally kept monkeys, the man was still unwilling to give it up without being monetarily compensated. When CERCOPAN’s Deputy Director, Claire Coulson, was visiting the bush the following weekend she decided to also pay the man a visit. Luckily this time the man came to his senses and handed the baby monkey over to her, but made her promise to keep the monkey’s original name – Ema, after the man Emmanuel.

It was early June when Ema first arrived to her new home at CERCOPAN in Calabar and immediately everyone loved her. She is one of those special monkeys that just always looks stunning, from her shiny coat of fur, her big bright eyes, and the hop in her step. Although a little bit of a madam, as most female puttys are, she immediately took to her new surroundings. She was not frightened of all the new people she encountered, and quickly began exploring her new space.

Ema having lunch

Ema has been a real pleasure to take care of, which cannot always be said for all babies. Some are very frightened when they arrive, which makes it hard to take of care them, others are extremely clingy, never wanting to let go of you, making all other responsibilities very difficult to handle. I find Ema to be a very well balanced individual. She loves to cuddle and play and generally be in the company of others, but she is also okay with being on her own for afternoon naps.

Unfortunately due to being domesticated as a pet by her previous owner at such a young age, she wasn’t able to establish very good monkey skills that should have been natural, like jumping and clinging and climbing. When she first arrived she was only able to cling to my hair, which was rather uncomfortable as you can imagine, so I had to carry her around. She also found it very difficult to jump long distances and often fell onto the floor in failed attempts. Luckily after a few days of play where I would test her abilities with various activities, she quickly strengthened these skills and is now as agile as the rest of her kind.

After being TB tested, Ema was ready to go outside to be introduced to a new monkey friend. Though sad, as it always is when the babies leave the house, Ema moved into a nice new home in the quarantine area with another new monkey named Johnnyface. I am happy for Ema because she and Johnnyface have loved each other since the moment they met. Introductions to new friends are always a little unpredictable, but this was a match made in heaven. The following morning when I went out to check on her, she was fast asleep in Johnnyface’s arms. The rest of the day she could be found bouncing around on the swing, rustling through the palm leaves, or simply sitting on the platform hugging her new friend.

Ema and Johnny face

Luckily Ema and Johnnyface are both small babies who do not require too much space, but we will soon be faced with a putty predicament when she is to move again into the larger quarantine area. Ema is only one of three new babies to arrive in the last month, and with our already at-capacity quarantine area and enclosures, she has nowhere to move to. We are in the process of redesigning and expanding the important area where all of the newcomers are kept, but as the projects keep mounting our finances are having a tough time keeping up. We now have the land to build new enclosures and the designs are ready, but without the funds we cannot go ahead. If you want to help create a home for Ema and her friends, please donate today.

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For the last month, I have barely set foot in my office at CERCOPAN HQ. The state government held a stakeholders’ Environmental Summit here in Calabar from 25th -28th June and the organizing team, of which I was a member, worked day and night to ensure that it was a huge success. We had just over three weeks to book hotels, fundraise, organize food, clean and prepare the venue, initiate the publicity campaign, organize vehicles to transport guests, design and print the programmes, banners and invitations, set up computers, screens, lighting etc. etc. The media attention during the run up to the event was particularly grueling, with a constant stream of talk shows, press conferences and radio interviews. My very limited wardrobe had me wracking my brains every morning trying to come up with new combinations that would not make it look as though I only have one jacket! Towards the end, I actually wondered if we could pull everything together in time (particularly after a few last-minute unexpected hitches), but when the day came, it all just fell into place.

The high table at the summit  (me on far left)

The theme of the Summit was “Developing and Sustaining a Green and Safe Environment for Present and Future Generations” and it focused on Forests and Biodiversity, Urban Environmental Management, Climate Change, Energy, Industrial Ecology, and Environmental Governance. The aim of the summit was for stakeholders to come together and contribute towards shaping the future of environmental policy in Cross River State.   It was attended by representatives from Federal and State Governments, overseases experts, Members of the Diplomatic Corp, National and State Assemblies, Academia, Development Partners, Non-Governmental Organisations, Media and the general public. Representatives from the communities that work with CERCOPAN were also invited, and they were delighted to be placed in the VIP section with all of the important guests. They were particularly excited and proud that the poster backdrop and event programme were filled with pictures from their forest, Rhoko. I was initially afraid that I would not be able to spot my friends from the communities amongst all of the other guests, but as the only attendees wearing bright red woolen bobble hats, I need not have worried!

Traditional dancers at the opening ceremony (can you spot my community members towards the top right?)

After the opening Ceremony, with its speeches and dances, the general public headed for home and the technical experts split into thematic groups to contribute ideas and give presentations. I was placed in the Forest and Biodiversity group alongside my colleagues from the Forestry Commission, Cross River National Park, Federal National Parks service etc. The discussion in our group was very lively and after numerous talks and a great deal of deliberation, we presented our ideas to all of the other groups.

Representative from  Federal National Parks service giving a presentation

At the end of the summit, the contributions from all of the groups were summarised into broad recommendations and a Communique produced. This documents was submitted to the State government and accepted unanimously yesterday. The recommendations were as follows:

1. Halt revenue targets based on timber exploitation and focus on forest conservation and regeneration for possible carbon finance.

2. Initiate action to take advantage of the carbon credit market.

3. Declare a two year moratorium on logging, timber cutting and sawing in forest reserves and also put in place adequate enforcement measures to halt deforestation and forest degradation.

4. Identify and implement short and long-term adaptation and mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of climate change due to global warming.

5. Promote the use of renewable energy sources such as micro hydropower, biomass, energy efficient woodstoves, solar, etc. to complement the conventional energy supply.

6. Promote Sustainable Forest Management and reforestation at the State, Local and community levels.

7. Facilitate the change from harmful agricultural practices to eco-agriculture.

8. Establish a sustainable integrated waste management system including a recycle village through public, private and community participation.

9. Implement an improved water supply scheme in the State, with centralized sewage system in new settlements.

10. Promote the establishment of waste water/effluent treatment plants in all industries and conduct environmental audits in industries.

11. Establish a State Environmental Sustainability Fund or Eco-fund as a more coordinated, holistic and focused approach for managing environment for sustainable development.

12. Establish a Museum of Natural History to support eco-tourism and environmental education.

 13. Adopt a multi-sectoral approach to review and harmonize all legal frameworks and institutions dealing with environmental issues in the State.

14. Set up an institutional mechanism to facilitate compliance monitoring and enforcement of environmental standards and regulations, and to partner with the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

15. Integrate Gender and Youth issues into the State Environmental Policy of clean, green and safe environment.

16. Introduce environmental education into the school curriculum at all levels and in collaboration with Stakeholders.

17. Enhance the development of environmental governance, advocacy and sustainable livelihood options, especially at the community level.

18. Set-up a technical team to develop a Strategic Action Plan (SAP) to enable the implementation of the outcome of the Summit within the next four (4) weeks.

His Excellency the Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke giving keynote address

Just when I thought my work was over and I may actually start arriving home before 9pm at night, I was asked to join the technical team and now have 4 weeks to help develop the Forest and Biodiversity section of the Action Plan. This plan will incorporate more of the detail arising from our group discussions in addition to new ideas and input. I am sure its going to keep me very busy, but I really am delighted to be part of such a forward thinking government initiative. His Excellency the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke and the Commissioner of the Environment, Dr Julius Okputu, are both so committed to ensuring the natural heritage of the State is conserved, that I am certain this action plan will achieve results. I will post the biodiversity section in 4 weeks time when it’s complete so watch this space!

Commissioner of the Environment, Dr Julius Okputu

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By Egu Arikpo

Place of work: Calabar HQ

Designation: Primate Care Staff 

Years of Service : 10 years

Egu

CERCOPAN is conserving six different species of monkeys, but I Egu Arikpo am in charge of Putty Nosed Guenons. Putty nosed monkeys belong to the family of the guenons called (Cercopithecus nictitan) and they are found from Liberia to Zaire and Angola.  Nellie was one of the putty’s and was a dominant female.  She acted very well in the group which every staff in CERCOPAN loved, her behaviour was as that of humans, because whenever a new monkey was introduced into her group from quarantine she did not fight nor threaten them but groomed them.  

Nellie took care of the smaller orphan babies’ in-terms of grooming, and also made them feel very happy in the group.  Nellie was also a monkey that was always alert. Whenever anyone passed her enclosure with anything edible, she stretched out her hands or screamed so hard to draw their attention indicating she needed something from them. Nellie never attacked or bit any staff in CERCOPAN.

Nellie and Egu

When problems arose in the group, she would always first of all look for where to sit and would watch to see exactly what was going on in the group. She would never look for ways of escape, but would rather choose to forage and groom the orphan babies’ in the group. 

Nellie pretended so much when she was sick, so that her friend Nkanacha would not over-throw her in her rank. Sometimes Nkanacha would want to copy Nellie’s bahaviours, but other monkeys awere not close to Nkanacha because of her aggressive style.

To keep Nellie happy at all times, we always fed her first before any other monkey in the group. She did not want the smaller monkeys to eat before her, as she is the madam and the dominate female in the group.

Sadly Nellie died recently and all of the staff were very sad, although she was very old. We will miss her a lot.  

Nellie

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A blog from Kristine ..our new Office/Finance Manager…. 

Last Wednesday morning CERCOPAN, Calabar awoke in a sea of murky muddy water resulting from the previous evening’s storm. At 6:30 am I stepped out of bed onto the cold squishy wetness of my submerged bedroom floor carpet and that was only the beginning. I opened my door to find a miniature Cross River runoff flowing through my hallway. My shampoo was leisurely floating downstream from the shower room to join various other household items that had congregated in the living room throughout the night. It was definitely a sight to see. Who needs coffee to perk you up in the morning when you’ve got such an enormous catastrophe to jolt you awake? However, undaunted and once again, the CERCOPAN family joined together to tackle the seemingly insurmountable mess and what could have taken weeks was cleared up in mere hours.

 The hallway at 6am

Any doubts about the onset of the rainy season were quickly dispelled. The storm arrived late in the evening when all was still. The monkeys were all nestled into their nooks, and I was fast asleep inside, oblivious to the onslaught. Unlike most large storms this one was actually rather quiet, but the lack of sound was compensated for by the sheer volume of water brought with it. Sheets and sheets poured down from the sky so rapidly that the earth did not have a chance to defend itself. There was simply too much water for the ground to absorb.  Seeping slowly the water crept in throughout the course of the night to wreak its silent sabotage. It was an every-item-for-itself battle and the water won.

Wading through the remaining six inches of water at dawn, Claire, the Deputy Director, woke me up by gently tapping on my door uttering the words that nothing good could follow – “Um, Kristine, you had better come take a look at this…”. At first I thought the bathroom pipe had burst (as it is very leaky), or a sink had overflowed or something. Not this. Not a flood. Not in my house. Of all the things you expect to happen here, this was just not one of them.

The Office after considerable bailing out of water - still wet!

After a quick evaluation of the damage it was clear this was going to be a huge job. The mud was everywhere in every single room. Some were worse than others, but nothing had been left unaffected. My bedroom, the kitchen, hallway, living room, both offices, and the vet lab were all submerged. Thankfully, everyone came to our aid, including off duty staff. If ever there was a perfect example of team work, this was it. Immediately everyone took up specific tasks, me and Claire, the house staff, keepers, the veterinarian, the education officer and assistant, were all scooping out bucket after bucket of water, moving furniture, pulling up carpets, digging out silt from the trenches and mopping the floors. Amongst singing and whistling, laughing and friendly banter everyone just got right down to it and the job was finished in record time. After a few hours there was a noticeable sign of hope that this would actually get sorted out, then at 3pm, and after only a few short breaks, the entire house and office were not only completely tidied, but even cleaner, more organized and revamped into a nicer, more welcoming space.

 Sitting room looking very clean (although without a carpet) after the cleanup

Though the damage was profound, we were lucky none of the monkeys were affected. Quite a few things in the building, which we are still working on fixing, were ruined or damaged but we are thankful that no one got hurt and appreciative that we have such wonderful staff who really know how to pitch in when it counts. The water level must have been much higher throughout the night as many large objects were carried 20 feet away from their original location. Unfortunately the batteries charging our backup power supply, and also the charger for our radio to communicate with our bush site, among other things, were severely damaged due to the height the water reached. Luckily we have been able to re-wire our power supply but still remain unable to communicate with the bush site. We all remain hopeful and thankful that things continue to work out, and find solace in knowing that we have such an amazing group of people who, together, can face any challenge and triumph against any test we are put up to. As proven, once again, on this day, the CERCOPAN team is a solid shield that can protect against even the most violent of storms, in all ways, shapes and forms.  Nevertheless, we are pleased that these floods occur only rarely.

Cercopan staff hard at work

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After over two months without an internet connection, we are finally back online this week! Given that our operations have been seriously hindered without it, the return of the net has been a serious cause for celebration in the office. I must apologise for our lack of replies and posts on the blog over this time, but hopefully now that things are back to normal we will be able to access the site daily.

Firstly and most importantly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who have donated over the period we were offline. I am very sorry that we have not been able to acknowledge your contributions until now. We would like to thank:

Anonymous - 1st - 13th May

Theresa Siskind - 22nd - 28th April

Emerentiane MC and Anonymous 15th - 22nd April

Anonymous - 22nd-31st March

Theresa Siskind - 8-14th March

Lucia C. – 1-7th March

More recently, since the launch of the Enclosure Appeal, we received $175 in donations from Anonymous, Antonio C, Sherri S and Wanda H. Thank you so much for your support, we still have a long way to go, but every donation really does bring us closer to our goal.

I will keep you all updated on the progress of this vital project.

Mona Monkey Mimi at Calabar HQ

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Here is another blog from Sagan, our Mangabey researcher….

With 40 mangabeys living together in 1 hectare, social interactions are endless.  As I am now able to recognize all individuals within the group, I cannot help but to be overly intrigued by the dynamics of the family.

Sagan Observing the group

The adult females are the central hub of the group.  The males spend much of the day fighting over them and many of the juveniles still rely on them as a source of milk, comfort, and protection.  In a seemingly peaceful manner, the females spend much of their day looking for food and grooming. They hardly seem to notice the havoc the males and juveniles create around them.  And it is plenty!  During periods of intensified sociality, the dominant female Odudu moves across the population grooming animals for short periods inspecting their wounds.  These short grooming bouts seem to be her way of making sure everyone is happy and re-affirming her position in the group.  She is a graceful and charismatic monkey, and with half of the population descended from her, she is truly the mother of the group.

Odudu and some members of her family

The males on the other hand expend their energy quite differently.  Though they do spend time grooming and caring for offspring, their efforts tend to be directed towards mate acquisition and guarding. When females in the group are cycling (adverstised via large pink sexual swellings) the aggression in the group noticeably increases.  The female will forage her way through the day as usual, but at this time she will be followed by one or more males.  At peak swelling (when she is most fertile), these follows can last all day.  When there is more than one interested male, the lower ranking male follows most closely and will in turn be followed by a higher ranking male.  And if she is particularly sexy, sometimes a third male will join in and follow her and the two other males.  The male mangabeys are certainly dedicated to the cause!  The pattern of interactions throughout the day is quite repetitive with the higher ranking male chasing off the lower ranking individuals whenever they get too close to the female.  I imagine this strategy is a way for the dominant male to limit the number of matings by lower ranking males without needing to exert physical forms of violence. 

Clyde, the dominant male of the group

Compared to the large amount of chasing and loud screaming vocalizations throughout the day, the amount of physical fighting and thus injury is relatively low (though some nasty injuries do occur!). When more than one female is swelling it becomes difficult for a dominant male to monitor.  If the dominant male slacks in his vigilance the lower male will seize the opportunity (if the female permits!).    Last month we had 5 adult females swelling at once!  It is during such times that lower ranking males have an opportunity to mate and possibly sire some offspring.  The specific strategy used by females to ensure that their offspring are sired by the most fit male is unknown.  We hope to be able to paternity tests within the group in order to determine who is actually fathering the juveniles in this ever so growing population.  Such information is also useful in investigating whether inbreeding avoidance mechanisms are being upheld in a growing isolated population.

Odudu and adult male Sunday

When the group is faced with periods of seemingly endless sex and violence the juveniles do their best to stay out of the way.  Meanwhile, some of the older individuals will sometimes join in to try and establish their spot within the group.  It is a critical time in the group at the moment as we have several growing males that will soon become adult.  In the wild males disperse from their native group to find a new group full of unrelated females.  As this is not possible within our semi-captive group we are curious to see what will happen.  Otu, a 7 year old male and Odudu’s son, is the first male to become adult within the group.  For now, he keeps on the periphery of the group (though he doesn’t seem to be low ranking).  This may be a result of his inability to disperse.  Will he establish his own splinter group formed of unrelated females?  Or is he bound to be an outcast?  This situation is particularly interesting as it can be used as a model for growing wild populations that are isolated in forest fragments created by deforestation.  We are all very curious to see what happens, and very keen for some of these managbeys to be released!

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