As many of you know we are hand rearing Jane, our chimp baby who was rejected by her Mother, Tara just after she was born. If you would like to find out more about Janes story then please follow the link at the bottom of the page. Caring for Jane has bought back memories of my time hand rearing baboons and vervet babies in South Africa and one in particular very special baboon, Hamish.
I worked at a Primate Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa, Riverside, which specialises in the country’s 5 primate species: chacma baboon, vervet monkey, samango, lesser bushbaby and thick-tailed bushbaby. The animals came from a variety of different backgrounds and at a variety of different ages. One day we would receive a couple of hours old vervet monkey to fully grown adult baboons who had been kept in unsuitable conditions. Many of their stories were very traumatic, you can’t believe what some of the animals endured at the hands of humans. Our goal at Riverside was to rehabilitate these animals to eventually release them back into the wild. The process is lengthy but successful, taking around 4-5 years for troops to be ready to reintroduced to the wild. I was lucky enough to be involved in one of the releases of troops of baboons and after the initial release, spent the next 5-6 months tracking and checking on their progress in the wild.
But this story is about Hamish. Hamish was already around 3-4 months when he came to Riverside, there wasn’t too much information about Hamish’s history but it was believed his mother was shot and he was found clinging to her. From the beginning Hamish was a very nervous baby, he refused to take a bottle, if any baboon baby looked at him, he would scream and stress poo EVERYWHERE.
Our baboon nursery housed anywhere between 10-20 babies all at different stages, some were tiny who needed round the clock care, while others were a bit older and beginning to form social bonds with their new troop.
Everyday we would take the baboon babies for a ‘baboon walk’. The purpose of this walk was to encourage the babies to explore, climb, forage and begin developing their natural instinct. The youngest ones would need to be carried as they were too little.
Hamish was in our smaller nursery with a few other baboons and vervets. When it came to our baboon walks no-one ever really volunteered to take Hamish. He was a screamer and you would be COVERED in poo by the end of the walk. He also never really relaxed with anyone – human nor baboon. There was a saying at Riverside that you can’t pick the baboon, the baboon chooses you. Hamish picked me… lucky me!!!! What initially started as a loud, pooy, slightly chaotic relationship, turned into a wonderful bond that I will cherish forever.
It was wonderful to watch him grow in confidence day on day. On our baboon walks, he would first take those tentative little steps away from me to explore, only to suddenly panic and come running straight back. I remember him stretching as far as he possibly could to reach a seed pod, desperately trying to keep at least one tiny toe on me for reassurance; his safety net in a big, unfamiliar world.
Watching him learn was so rewarding, learning how to groom, how to socialise and find his place within the troop. He slowly started to become more independent from me and started spending more time with his peers than with me. And that is the goal of rehabilitation, no matter how strong your bond is the success is when they no longer need you and are with their own kind.
Hamish has now been successfully released back into the wild, it is bittersweet for me. Heart-breaking that I wont be able to see him again, but also so rewarding that he is a wild baboon with the rest of his troop and I did my job right.
On the left, Hamish at 5 years old, after being sedated for transport for his release.
Above, Hamish’s first steps into his future in the wild. The baboons are released into a temporary enclosure in the wild to allow them to habituate themselves. The gates are then opened after 1-2 weeks and the enclosure is removed so the baboons become fully wild.
So whilst I am caring for Jane, worrying about her milk intake, poo schedule, weight and her socialisation I am also reminded of Hamish, Jane will grow in confidence and independence and will back with her own family living a happy chimp life and I am privileged to have been a part in her journey.
Follow Jane’s journey on YouTube: Click Here
By Jess, Deputy Head of Primates
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