By Madeline Krasno | Project Leader
We have even more exciting (and adorable) news to share with you!
From our last update, you learned about a young female vervet monkey who was being advertised on Facebook as a pet for sale; the asking price was over $5,000. She was confiscated by the Nature Reserves Authorities and brought to our sanctuary. This little girl has been given the name Bussani, and we are pleased to report that Bussani now has a family of her own! With three groups of vervet monkeys to choose from, Bussani and a female vervet named Kalansi immediately took to each other. Kalansi lived for many years by herself at a petting zoo before being introduced to Siman-tov, a male vervet monkey with the same history of living alone in a petting zoo.
Click here to watch the official introduction of Bussani and Kalansi. You will see Bussani unsure of what to do when initially meeting her adoptive mother but, when Bussani finally approaches Kalansi, the two wrap their arms around each other and begin hugging. We could not be more thrilled to provide these monkeys with the family and refuge they deserve!
Sadly, the trend on Facebook with monkeys being advertised as pets for sale continues and, pictured above, Mufajaa is the latest victim of this cruel trend. As you know, it is illegal to privately own a monkey in Israel, so once again, authorities were immediately on the case. The seller quickly realized this but was able to sell the young monkey before the cops were able to confiscate him. The buyer, however, also realized the authorities would be after him and took it upon himself to deliver the monkey to the sanctuary himself in order to avoid trouble.
Once again, we are grateful to the Israeli Authorities for their diligence in staying on top of those trying to profit off of these innocent and wild animals. Bussani, Mufajaa, and so many more monkeys have been given a second chance at life at IPSF!
Mufajaa, which means “surprise” in Arabic, is pictured above in the small cage in which he arrived. We estimate that he is about two-years-old. Once he has passed all of his health checks, we will introduce Mufajaa to a monkey family of his own and, like in the case of Bussani, our staff will observe who Mufajaa seems most interested in and which vervet monkeys show the most interest in him. Perhaps he will choose Bussani and her new adoptive parents or maybe he will end up with the vervets rescued from the Gaza zoo late last year. We will just have to wait and see!
Thanks to your ongoing support and generosity, we are moving forward with the completion of our last three vervet monkey habitats that will house Bussani, Mufajaa, Kalansi, Simon-tov, and many more! Our staff and volunteers have been hard at work setting up the mesh that will separate the three enclosures (pictured below), but there is still much work to be done. We need to purchase materials in order to build night houses for each enclosure as well as purchase and install the solid green metal that can be seen in the picture below which also shows two of our vervet monkeys who currently live in the first completed enclosure. The green metal will be attached to the top of the mesh fencing in order to prevent the monkeys from climbing out of their new homes.
What else is happening? Beginning at 9:00 AM ET and ending at 11:59 PM ET on Wednesday, July 11, 2017, GlobalGiving is hosting a Rewards Bonus Day. Because the Israeli Primate Sanctuary Foundation is listed as a Superstar Organization, any donation that day will be matched at 50% while the $110,000 in matching funds remain. Throughout the day, new recurring donations will be matched at 100% and, at the end of Bonus Day, projects with the most funds raised and the most donors will receive extra prizes including bonus funds and social media promotion.
We simply could not do this lifesaving work without you! Stay tuned for updates on Bussani, Mufajaa, and the other vervet monkeys who, with your help, will call these state-of-the art enclosures home!
If you haven't already, follow IPSF on Facebook for more updates on the rest of the Sanctuary's monkeys!
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