Monkeys and Manatees are awesome!

It’s not taken me long to decide that monkeys and manatees are awesome!

Thursday was a super busy day at the centre. We had two film crews in to film the manatees - it was all designed to raise awareness about the animals and to teach people about the devastating effects motorised water sports/ water transport can have on manatees. There was also a group of school children in along with the documentary film crew who were in to learn about manatees (and to help make the documentary more cute!) so it was a very long day with lots of additional cleaning jobs to be done in preparation.

Duke and Twiggy were centre of attention for the whole day. Duke is a young male manatee (184 lbs) who spends his time in the pool under the watchful eye of the volunteers. He eats seagrass and is tube fed milk once a day by Si, the lead volunteer. Sometimes the volunteers are in the water with him to play and to make him exercise. I have just come back from my first swimming/ wading experience with him and it was really special - he brushed up against me numerous times and I felt his whiskers on my feet and knees as he tried to figure me out. I've heard that he can be a little frisky as he’s reached that age but I guess I'm not his type as I didn't experience any of that!

Twiggy is a larger manatee (296 lbs) and is due to be released in the next couple of days. Twiggy had a bolt on her tracker changed on Thursday so she was hoisted out of her lagoon pool (a part of the lagoon that is closed off), weighed and then it was changed. It was changed because the bolts are designed to rust and drop off after between 12 and 18 months and she had hers fitted 8 months ago as she was due to be released then but the release was delayed. Wildtracks would like to keep track of her when she is released into the lagoon to monitor where she sleeps and where she is finding food but then they will pick up the tracker after it comes loose. She gets a banana milkshake every morning and then is let out into the lagoon for the day to find seagrass. She then comes back in at about 5pm to have another milkshake which she loves!

With regards to the monkeys, they get fed 4 times a day (6.30am, 10am, 2pm and 4.30pm) and get a combination of fruit and leaves. The Howler Monkeys get smaller pieces of fruit than the Spider Monkeys as they have tiny mouths. There are 6 adult Howler Monkeys at Wildtracks and they are all lovely. Spartacus is a funny one and likes to play and bite. He was raised from a baby by the Wildtracks volunteers but he is in a cage with his adopted mummy, Kofi now. She is very patient with him and waits until he has had his milk before she gets hers! She was also in a playful mood today and spent some time checking Simon’s hair for flees (I’m not sure if she found any!). There are also 5 Howler Monkeys in a pre-release enclosure. Sultan is a comic and loves to pull funny faces and joke around. A couple of the pre-release monkeys have escaped over the past couple of days (once due to a fault in the electric fence and they came over the top of the fence via the trees on the second escape!).

Spider Monkeys look fantastically funny when they run on the ground or across a branch as they wave their arms in the air as they go! I really hope I manage to get a video of this over the next month. They do not have any thumbs and, according to John (a volunteer with a huge thirst for knowledge), they also have ball and socket joints in their wrists to allow them to swing better. The Spider Monkeys have grown on me after my initial meeting with them didn't go so well (I nearly lost half of my hair and my necklace to Duma!). They all have different personalities but, on the whole, they are playful and loving. Si, Paul and John tend to go in with these monkeys as they can be quite strong and, when they get upset, they could do some serious damage! I witnessed Pancho, the male monkey, having a bit of a tantrum and he actually managed to break one of the branches in his cage - it would have been quite dangerous to be in there with him! I stand outside, as we can feed from there, at arm’s length to avoid hairloss!

Yesterday I was very lucky as I got to meet the baby monkeys. There are 7 baby Howler Monkeys and a baby Spider Monkey called Izzy. I played with the four smallest Howlers for a couple of hours yesterday. My favourite is Pebbles (who was nicknamed 'Splat' after she kept making a splatting sound with her feet as she landed on my lap). There is also 'Underarm Biter' (Peanut), 'Crash Lander' (Polly) and Sam who are all adorable. I have been asked to supervise play sessions with the 4 smallest monkeys and Elliot, who is slightly older and has been playing a little rough. It is hoped that they will all move into the same enclosure outside once they're a little bigger.

I have realised over the past couple of days that I have serious tail envy. Why did humans evolve without a tail?! I was discussing at breakfast the fact that, if I had a tail, I’d be able to carry another handbag around with me that could contain a pair of flat shoes for when my feet get sore. The possibilities would be endless! If evolution didn't take so long I would sit up in a tree and wait for my tail to appear!