Primate Update E-Newsletter, Vol. 4, Issue 12

Happy Holidays from the Monkeys and their Caregivers at Pacific Primate Sanctuary!

As we near the end of the year, it is with great satisfaction that we look back over the last 12 months and remember all that we have been able to provide for the 60 Monkeys here at Pacific Primate Sanctuary. With your help, the monkeys have been able to live free from exploitation for another year, in a natural environment, with the ability to express their natural behaviors

We have watched with joy as Xylophone, a Critically Endangered Cotton Top Tamarin who spent 10 years in a windowless laboratory, used her nimble fingers to find insects deep within the recesses of a Ti plant, the sunshine illuminating her beautiful fur. Macaco, who lived in an apartment for 9 years as a pet, has spent countless hours exploring his outdoor enclosure, and has learned how to use his claw-like nails to cling vertically to tree trunks as he was meant to do. We have been glad to see elderly Bruno, who was rescued from a research lab, stretched out on on his new jungle walkway, as his mate Frieda thoroughly grooms him- working all the way from his ear- tufts down to the tip of his tail. We have listened to the happy squeals of the Spider Monkey brothers, Carlos and Montana, as they brachiated across the full 40 feet of their jungle enclosure.

Thank you for helping us provide for the monkeys in 2012.  Your invaluable partnership has made this possible.

We need your support to keep this good work going!
Please be generous, and give what you can.
Donate now at:  http://www.pacificprimate.org/help-donate.htm?

WAYS YOU CAN HELP the MONKEYS at PPS

The Season of Giving
The end of the year is upon us; it is a time of year to celebrate with friends and family and remember the year past- a time when joy, compassion, and the spirit of generosity abound. Below are ways you can help Pacific Primate Sanctuary during this time of giving and goodwill.




Gift Contributions
Many of us do not value the commercialism of the holiday buying binge and are searching for truly meaningful ways to give to our family and friends.  We would like to offer a unique gift giving opportunity:

 
Gift Contributions can be made to Pacific Primate Sanctuary in the name of anyone on your holiday list. Your Gift Recipients will receive a beautiful Contribution Certificate showing you have made a donation in their name, along with information about PPS.  This thoughtful and significant gift helps to feed and care for threatened, endangered and distressed primates.  Please see the attached PPS Holiday Gift Contribution Form for details, or go to our website:
http://www.pacificprimate.org/help.htm





Donating to Pacific Primate Sanctuary can be as simple as doing an Internet search!
Visit GoodSearch.com and designate Pacific Primate Sanctuary as your charity of choice, and get started using this wonderful program.  Each time you do a search using GoodSearch, a small contribution will be made to PPS!

GoodShop
Use GoodShop.com for all your online shopping. After designating Pacific Primate Sanctuary as your nonprofit of choice, you can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a substantial percentage of your purchases will automatically be donated to the Sanctuary! For example: if you shop on eBay using Goodshop.com, 25-35% of eBay revenue 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.

Spread the Word
One great way for you to support the monkeys at Pacific Primate Sanctuary is by sharing information about our refuge with others.  Pass this E-Newsletter on to your family and friends and encourage them to “Like” us on Facebook— http://www.facebook.com/PacificPrimateSanctuary

Volunteer Your Time
We are currently in need of more local volunteers! We need Animal Caregivers, Handy people, and Gardeners/Landscapers. Retirees are welcome. If you live on Maui and are interested in becoming one of Pacific Primate Sanctuary’s Angels, by volunteering your time and skills, please e-mail us at pps@aloha.net
 
“Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give.”— Barbara Bush


Mobile Donations
Donating to Pacific Primate Sanctuary just got even easier with our new mobile giving page!  Click on the following link on your mobile device, and you can quickly and effortlessly make a contribution to our cause. https://www.paypal-donations.com/pp-charity/web.us/charity_m.jsp?id=41132

Fund a Special Project
Interested in donating to a specific aspect of our work?  Pacific Primate Sanctuary is currently raising money to fund our Internship Program, build more Jungle Walkways, purchase Alternative Energy Systems, and we are always in need of funds for General Operations.

 


Our Wish List
You can contribute to the monkeys by donating much needed items, including:
-commercial power washer                                             -high quality microscope
- heavy-duty weed eater                                                 -gram staining supplies                                   
-gardening supplies & equipment                                    -sewing machine
-small handheld vacuum                                                      -construction tools

 Please contact us at pps@aloha.net if you have an item you wish to donate!

How to Donate Directly
We deeply appreciate your continued partnership. You, and your family and friends, can make tax-deductible donations to the Sanctuary on our Website: www.pacificprimate.org and on FaceBook, using PayPal, or by sending a check to:

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


With your support, you make everything
we do possible!





 

PPS INTERNSHIP
 

Introducing our newest Resident Intern: Rachel
Rachel will be arriving on January 13, 2013 just a few days after Intern Mary completes her Internship. She has a diverse animal care experience, including an Internship at a Zoo where she had the opportunity to care for Spider Monkeys and Tamarins.  She has also worked with waterfowl at a wildlife rehabilitation center, and is currently spending her time working with Seals and Sea Lions in Vancouver, BC.  Rachel is passionate about caring for animals, and we are so pleased that she will be joining our team.

Rachel Writes:

Thank you so much for your consideration and ultimate decision in choosing me to be an intern at the Pacific Primate Sanctuary. I am honored to have been selected and to accept the internship at PPS beginning in January 2013.

I am committed to becoming a leading expert in primate husbandry and I believe PPS will help me work towards this goal. I am looking forward to establishing relationships with the primate residents of the Sanctuary, to get to know them individually and to have them know me. I want to promote respectful and nurturing care for captive animals and rehabilitation for animals that have suffered at the hands of human beings, and in the Sanctuary I have found a place that supports and practices this vision. The opportunity to intern at the Sanctuary is the ultimate learning experience and will allow me to further explore and understand the connection between humans and other primates.

I am grateful to you for providing me with this bright opportunity. I am excited for the new challenges and joys that the primates will bring me. Again, thank you for the honor of the selection and I am looking forward immensely to my time at the Pacific Primate Sanctuary.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Intern Mary’s Special Topic
The Complete Capuchin: The body

Capuchin monkeys are intermediate sized New World primates. Although they do share similarities with other New World genera, such as having prehensile tails and very dexterous hands, they are physically very distinct. An average female capuchin weighs between 3.1 and 3.3 kg, while the average male weighs between 3.5-3.7kg. It is typical for captive capuchins to weigh more than wild capuchins as in captivity daily access to food and a limited habitat allow for weight to be gained and maintained more consistently than in the wild.

The pelage colors range from black to red, blond, brown and white. No matter what color a capuchin is the fur on their chest is lighter than the hair on their backs, tails, and forearms. Skin on the face also ranges in color from pink to black. For the white-faced capuchins here at Pacific Primate Sanctuary, C. capucinus, pink is the typical facial skin color. Sun exposure alters skin coloration in capuchins. The more time they spend in direct sun the darker their pelage and skin becomes. As they age female white faced capuchins also develop longer hair around their face while older males begin to lose the hair around their face.

The eyesight of female capuchin monkeys is very similar to that of humans. Female capuchins have trichromatic, or color, vision. Male capuchins have dichromatic vision meaning they cannot distinguish between certain color hues. Although males have difficulty with this distinction they are still able to distinguish between colored surfaces fairly well, similar to humans with this condition.

Olfactory cues are used by capuchins as well. Scent marking allows other capuchins to locate each other. They also use their sense of smell to locate food items. Capuchins distinguish between ripe and unripe foods using their sense of taste. They are able to detect the amount of sucrose a piece of fruit contains and use this ability when foraging for food items.

Prospero and Miracle, the capuchins here at Pacific Primate Sanctuary, display all of these characteristics. The hair around Miracle’s face is much longer and fluffier than that around Prospero’s face. They both have extremely dexterous hands and fingers that they use to peel open fruits such as pomegranates and pick out individual seeds. It is not unusual for them to smell a food item before deciding whether or not they want to consume it, and they typically enjoy sweeter fruits and nuts before eating the remainder of their diet.

Fragaszy, D.M., Visalberghi, E., Fedigan, L.M. (2004) The Complete Capuchin: The
Biology of the Genus Cebus. UK. Cambridge University Press.


Special Topic: Intern Edie
Diet of wild Spider monkeys

Ateles or Spider monkeys are classified as frugivores whose diet consumption is specializing in ripe fruits. The variation in fruits consumed is dependent on many factors including resource distribution, variation in foraging strategies as well as population range for various sub species of Ateles.
Studies indicate the Ateles genus utilize a wide variety of plants to satiate their dietary needs. The bulk of their diet consists of lipid (fats and fat-like substances) rich ripened fruits and is supplemented by flowers, roots, leafy greens, seeds and palm hearts. In some geographic ranges it is found some sub species will consume invertebrates as well.

Spider monkeys do not typically spit out seeds during consumption, but rather ingest and then defecate seeds out.  This gives them an important role in seed dispersal.  Ateles are only known to separate out and discard the seeds from palm plant species that are characterized by large seeds easily separated from the fruit’s pulp. When fruit sources are low their diet is supplemented largely by leaves and flowers from large canopy trees.

The Sanctuary’s orchard provides numerous types of fruit accessible for the Spider Monkeys’ diet. We are able to make their daily diet widely varied and novel. The different forms of fruit available allows for more dietary enrichment options. 


Reference:
Fiore, A.D., Link, A., & Dew, J.L. (2008). Diets of wild spider monkeys. In C.J. Campbell  (Ed), Spider Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Genus Ateles (pp. 81-109). New York: Cambridge University Press.



“Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”           
- Albert Einstein



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 70 primates saved from research laboratories, animal dealers, and tourist attractions. Here they can heal, form social groups, and live free from exploitation.