I thought you'd appreciate an update and some photos of Livy (we shortened her name from Olivia) - who's looking stunning! She, Sultan and Nicky are now in the pre-release enclosure - having their first supervised twice-daily forays in the trees, and are lined up for release next May. With Livy having been a slightly older youngster when you assisted her rescue last year, she already had good climbing skills, and is really in her element in the trees of the pre-release enclosure. She has a very sweet and gentle disposition that has won the hearts of the volunteers who work with her. We have another four howlers that we hope to introduce to them in the spacious pre-release enclosure over the coming months - including young Spartacus, who looks stunning.

With three baby howlers in the nursery area, we have the core of a troop that should be released in May 2014, with 5-month old Elliot having just joined us on Monday.
 
We released Dudley and his troop a little behind schedule in June - and they're all doing really well so far: young Minnie's charms seem to be working well in bonding Dudley to the troop. They clearly benefitted considerably from the extended period (5 months) they had in the pre-release enclosure - having far better climbing skills and being far more aware of troop individual's position in the trees, hence the decision to increase the pre-release exposure still further. I'm optimistic that we'll see the first wild-born baby howlers in the Fireburn Reserve this coming year - which will be a really exciting development in the reintroduction of the species to this north-east forest node.
 
So, having released 5 more howlers in June, we're already back up to 14 monkeys in rehabilitation (now including 4 spiders), with another 4 howlers and 5 spiders lined up for confiscation over the next couple of weeks. Teresa, the 12-year old spider who'd been on a chain in Orange Walk for 11 years is now here, and responding really well. She was morbidly obese, but has already slimmed down significantly in the month she's been with us, and is now moving a lot more freely as a result. She's a very calm and placid individual, and may yet be a candidate for eventual release - which would be little short of a miracle. Pancho, the young adult male spider who joined us last month, is doing well and will hopefully be able to join the females over the next 2-3 months.
 
Thank you again for the support with the construction of the pre-release enclosure - it is key to the successful release of the howlers, and is already helping our third group to learn the skills they need for life in the wild!

Wildtracks!

Read Olivia's Rescue Story Here!  | Click here to see her photos!