Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy

This past week we had to say goodbye to one of the babies that we've rescued. It was time. He had healed completely from his abuse and didn't need our help anymore. Plus, he needed to be with others like him. He couldn't live with us forever. 

Have you guessed who I'm talking about?

Kanono, our vervet monkey had to move away last week. He was getting big, he'd figured out how to escape from his habitat and was out more often than in. He was beginning to steal crops. It just wasn't the right place for him anymore. Even as we prepared to take him to his new home he bit down on Timmy's hand and while he didn't bite hard enough to show he was trying to hurt, his teeth did drag across the back of Timmy's hand leaving some good cuts.

The zoo in Lusaka, Munda Wanga,  has a program where they take Vervet monkeys who have been living near people and get them ready for living in the wild. I wrote about them last year when we took our family trip in October. They are the ones who took the jackals we rescued a couple years ago.

Since we had to drive down to Lusaka stopping off in Ndola for the tournament and to see friends so Kanono had to spend a fair bit of time in the car--poor guy. We bought a laundry hamper with a lid and used that as a portable cage. He could stand up in it but couldn't lie down very well. We felt bad about it but it seemed the best solution. Thankfully, a friend in Ndola offered to look after him for 2 days so he could have a larger cage. You can see it in the picture below.

In this picture we've just come to pick up Kanono after his time with our friend and he was so happy to see Tom he kept hugging him. We felt awful putting him back into a cage, even if it was a much better cage given to us by our friend.

When we reached Lusaka we took Kanono to Munda Wanga where he was placed into a quarantine cage. He'll be getting vaccinations and then after a few days will move to a cage where he is still in isolation but near other monkeys so the staff can see how he is accepted. After 30 days he'll be moved into the main cage and then 3 months later the entire troop will be released into the wild.

When we leave for the States in January we'll pass by the Munda Wanga to see how Kanono is fairing. It was hard to say goodbye to him*, but we know he'll be happier and better off. He deserves to spend his life with monkeys and find a mate. We wish him well!

*In the interest of full disclosure I should say that 'we' does not include me. I could not be happier to wave bye-bye to the little rascal.

You can get Tom's perspective on the event by clicking over to his brand new blog.

Livingstone Man is where he will blog from time to time about life in the bush and also highlight some of his beautiful photos.

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