Primate Update E-Newsletter, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part 1

PPS PRIMATES in the SPOTLIGHT

Meet Abraham
Abraham is a Black-tufted Eared marmoset who will be celebrating his 13th birthday on January 29th. His father, Tank, came to Pacific Primate Sanctuary from a university research laboratory, while his mother, Florence, found refuge here after being confiscated from a smuggler (please see our website to read Tank’s story http://www.pacificprimate.org/stories.htm).

Abe, as he is called by many of the volunteers, is known to be a food enthusiast! Every morning he watches as the Volunteers pass food out, waiting excitedly for his own breakfast. As soon as the breakfast bowl is being put into his enclosure, Abraham rushes to it following it until it is in place, and then eagerly digging in. Other than feeding times, Abraham is a very mellow monkey who spends most of his time relaxing. One Volunteer described the following scene "Abe had this little perfect patch of sunlight coming through to the bottom of his portable, so he plopped down right on the floor and was lounging in the sun grooming his tail.”

Abraham was recently moved into an enclosure in the new Extension. He has been basking in the sunshine, feeling its warmth on his fur and the breeze across his back.

Please help us continue to provide monkeys such as Abraham a home where they can feel sun on their bodies and leap between the branches of trees. Donate now at http://www.pacificprimate.org/help-donate.htm

NOTABLE NEWS

Daisy examines an enrichment ball

The monkeys at Pacific Primate Sanctuary enjoyed a wonderful Christmas! First a beautiful red and green breakfast was prepared for the Marmosets and Tamarins with sweet red peppers and fresh soybeans. The Capuchins and Spider Monkeys were also given red peppers and soybeans along with crisp green pears, and celery filled with jelly and sunflower seeds. Breakfast was handed out while soft Christmas Carols were playing in the background. Later in the day, volunteers provided exciting enrichment for the monkeys. Viola, a young Capuchin Monkey, painted with red and green paints. Then, she and the other Capuchins were given fresh lemons to groom with.

Viola paints a Christmas picture

The Spider Monkeys foraged through brown paper bags that were stuffed with shredded leaves. Hidden among the leaves were raisins and popcorn, and a very special popcorn ball created from peanut butter, raisins and popcorn. The Marmosets and Tamarins searched through twisted paper to find popcorn and raisins.


Happily, we were able to pair two lone monkeys this month! Nico and Bianca are White-tufted Eared Marmosets and they are getting along exceptionally well. We have seen them grooming in the sunshine on several occasions, and exploring their outdoor enclosure together.

Jason and Ira

We will be celebrating several birthdays this month! Critically Endangered Cotton Top Tamarins, Jason and Ira, just turned 2 on January 2nd. They share their birth month with their father, Adam, who will be turning 13 on the 20th. Genevieve, a White-tufted Eared Marmoset, was born on January 25th and will be turning 4 this year, while Abraham, a Black-tufted Eared Marmoset will be 13 on the 29th.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OUR PRIMATE FRIENDS!

MEET MORE MONKEYS

Olivia, a White-tufted Eared Marmoset, is a loving presence. 

 Here, she looks at her caregiver with trusting eyes.

Deidre, a Black-tufted Eared Marmoset, enjoys the sweet nectar 

found at the base of this yellow ginger flower.

This Blog and its content is copyright of Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc.—

© Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:

you may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only

you may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material

You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

Primate Update E-Newsletter, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part 2

WHAT’S HAPPENING at PPS?

Spider Monkey Enclosures:

Spider Monkey Enclosure Foundation

The construction of the new Spider Monkey enclosures is moving along. Materials have arrived and construction of the enclosures has begun. The cement foundation has been poured and the framework is now up. The new enclosures will be 40 feet long, and will be planted with trees, vines, bushes and flowers. Carlos and Montana will finally be able to brachiate through the greenery!

Long time donors and friends of Pacific Primate Sanctuary have made substantial contributions towards the construction of the Spider Monkey facility, however we still need to raise $4,000 to complete this project. Generosity and compassion are the stuff miracles are made of. We appreciate your continued support!

Putting up the Framework

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE MONKEYS

GoodShop and GoodSearch
GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Select Pacific Primate Sanctuary as your charity of choice. Then use GoodSearch just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!
Use GoodShop.com for all your online shopping needs. You can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will automatically be donated to the Sanctuary! For example: if you shop at Borders, using Goodshop.com, 3% of your total will be donated to PPS! GoodShop also provides many valuable coupons to use towards your purchases. When you select a store, you will automatically be redirected to a coupon page for that store.


Give to the PPS Rescue Fund
A Rescue Fund will allow us to provide refuge for at risk animals needing to be brought to the Sanctuary immediately. Laboratories and pet owners often have deadlines for placement and may not contribute to the costs involved in getting the animal to Pacific Primate Sanctuary or provide for their housing and care. Your contributions will allow us to reach out to these monkeys and bring them to this safe haven. If you would like to donate to the Rescue Fund please make a tax-deductible donation at the sites above.

Sponsor an Intern!
We have had several people interested in the PPS internship position who are unable to afford the cost of travelling to Maui and volunteering for a year. For example, we just received the following e-mail from a very qualified applicant:
“I recently graduated with my Master of Science degree where my focus was primate conservation and my bachelor's degree was in anthropology/primatology. I have lived in the jungles of Borneo doing orangutan rehabilitation and Costa Rica. My undergraduate and graduate theses were in captive primate behavior. I also have graduate level experience in Grant Writing and Proposals.”
He is an ideal candidate for our Internship program. Unfortunately, he does not have the finances for an airline ticket or for personnel expenses.

The Sanctuary provides housing and an orchard and organic vegetable garden for our Resident Interns, however we do not have the funds to fly qualified students to Maui or to provide a stipend. If you are interested in sponsoring an Intern by purchasing airline tickets, donating airline miles, or providing a monthly stipend for our Resident Interns please contact us at pps@aloha.net.

How to Donate Directly
We rely upon your continued contributions. Please encourage your friends and relatives to make tax-deductible donations to the Sanctuary.

You may donate online on our Website: www.pacificprimate.org or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PacificPrimateSanctuary using PayPal
or by sending your check to:

Pacific Primate Sanctuary
500-A Haloa Road
Haiku, HI 96708


With your support, you make everything we do possible!

PPS INTERNSHIP

Simon helping with the Spider Monkey Enclosures

Our newest Intern, Simon, arrived on New Year’s Day. Simon has begun his training and is picking everything up very quickly. He has experience with organic gardening, and has already started a garden at the Sanctuary. Welcome Simon, we are so excited that you have joined us!

Simon writes:
My interest in your internship stems from my devotion to the cause of primate conservation. As primate species are being driven further and further to the brink of extinction, this cause has never been more urgent. Centers such as yours offer effective solutions to the critical problem of dwindling primate populations. My ultimate goal is to eventually establish my own primate rehabilitation center…

I will offer Pacific Primate Sanctuary my genuine passion and enthusiasm in the mission to promote primate conservation… I will offer my professional respect and integrity, in my dealings with the non-human primates and the staff. I will completely dedicate myself to the monkeys' wellbeing, putting their needs above all else. I will come with my knowledge of primate behavior that I have gained from primatology classes, zoo research, and wild observations. I will come with the understanding that what I think I know may not apply to the primates at your center, and I will offer my adaptability and readiness to absorb new information. I will take on any and every task assigned me with an attitude of joviality and an eagerness to serve your very noble cause!



This Blog and its content is copyright of Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc.—
© Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved.
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:
you may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only
you may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material
You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

Primate Update E-Newsletter, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part 3

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Special Topic:
Spider Monkeys, Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution of the Genus Ateles


Chapter 6: Spider Monkeys as Seed Dispersers

Carlos eating a Passion Fruit (skin and all!)

Plants are reliant on external forces to help disperse their seeds since they cannot move themselves. Large seeds and most tropical tree species use the vertebrate gut as a source of dispersal. In order to attract these vertebrates the seeds are encased in a fleshy, nutritious fruit that is eaten by the animal and defecated elsewhere. This method of seed dispersal is known as endozoochory. Fruit-eating primates, such as the Spider monkey play an important role in seed dispersal.

Due to the fact that the Spider monkey specializes in a diet of ripe fruit, they are often viewed as being among the most important seed-dispersing animals in the New World.


-Campbell, Christina J. Spider Monkeys: The Biology, Behavior, and Ecology of the Genus Ateles (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology). UK. Cambridge University Press. 2008.



Special Topic: Mary Catherine
Positive Reinforcement Training Update

Everyone likes to be rewarded. No matter who you are, human or nonhuman, it is likely you are inclined to do the things that are followed by something good. By encouraging good behaviors through reward, and ignoring bad behaviors, you increase the chances of the desired behavior occurring again in the future. With this basic ethos, we at PPS are working with our nonhuman friends to encourage behaviors that can improve the quality of their lives.

We continue to work with the marmosets and tamarins to step on a scale placed in their enclosure so we can keep an eye on changes in weight. Generally speaking, the marmosets are bold in their investigations of the scale, so encouraging them to stand on it for a set amount of time starts with giving them bits of raisins or cheerios whenever they approach the scale. The next step is rewarding them when they place a foot or two on the scale. From there we build up to a high valued reward when they stand completely on the scale. The tamarins, on the other hand, are rather timid around new objects in their enclosure, so we’ve adjusted our training to accommodate their comfort level. We start with simply rewarding them any time they come within a few feet of the scale. With more exposure and some patience, the tamarins will associate the scale with treats rather than something scary.

Last month, Fiona, a white-tufted marmoset, was a little suspicious of standing on the scale. However now she gets very excited when she sees me coming with the scale and hops on it without hesitation. We’ve been reliably getting her weight every week now!

Miranda Basking in the Sun

This month Miranda, an elderly female capuchin, has been eager to participate in training sessions just like her daughter, Miracle. However we were surprised to find quick-witted Miranda was learning at a slower pace than we expected despite her enthusiasm and long attention span. After some thought it dawned on me that perhaps Miranda was hard of hearing. After all, it seemed the problem was rooted in the “bridge.” Recall from earlier Talk Stories, a “bridge” is a term for the association made, in this case, between a “click” (from a handheld clicker) and a small treat. It acts as a signal to the animal that says, “Yes! That’s right! Now come over and get your treat!” So perhaps Miranda wasn’t advancing because she didn’t know for what exactly she was getting rewarded. After testing out this theory, we’ve come to the conclusion that indeed Miranda is hard of hearing but the solution is simple. We will use a visual bridge, like a red dot sticker on my index finger, to pair with the reward. When she performs a desired behavior, the red dot will be presented immediately followed by a small treat. Soon she will learn the red dot appears when she’s done some action that deserves a treat, and this will help her understand which actions get her the most raisins!

“An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language.”
-Martin Buber


We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Pacific Primate Sanctuary’s E-Newsletter. Thank you for your support of our life saving work. Because of compassionate people, the Sanctuary can continue to provide a place of peace and happiness for 74 primates saved from research laboratories, animal dealers, and smugglers. Here they can heal, form families, and live free from exploitation.

This Blog and its content is copyright of Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc.—

© Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:

you may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only

you may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material

You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

Viola Paints

This Blog and its content is copyright of Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc.—
© Pacific Primate Sanctuary, Inc., 2009. All rights reserved.
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:
you may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only
you may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material
You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.