1. CERCO-NEWS
V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0
INSIDE THIS Research Expansion at CERCOPAN Providing vital
ISSUE:
Captive Care Information
Research 1 to construct the new Putty are species that have barely
Expansion at
enclosure. It’s design (also been studied either in under
CERCOPAN
Providing vital by Gary Young) means that it captive conditions or the
Captive Care is portable and therefore it wild. For this reason, we
Information can be easily moved with us hope to carry out further
to our new site located in studies at our Calabar HQ
From the 2
the University of Calabar site in the future and to
Director (UNICAL) grounds. expand our research
Once the animals programme, which is
Welcome Rachel! 2 are moved we expect to see currently almost entirely
a reduction in aggression, based at our forest site.
stereotypical behaviours and The two staff
New Arrival! 2 Following several stress indicators as the members conducting the
weeks of training, two animals will be able to move research have both recently
Calabar staff, Matthew Etim further away from con- been promoted. Austin our
Specialised 3 and Austin Igbebor, have specifics during difficult vet nurse became Senior
Internships; No
begun collecting behavioural social situations. We staff, and Matthew was
Ordinary Class
Field Trip!
data as part of a project hope this research will high- given full time research
sponsored by the light the importance of en- responsibilities in addition to
Pica Reunited 4 International Primatological closure size and design and his keeper duties. Both staff
With Mother Society. The research is help us to attract further have shown a real flair for
focused on the captive care funding from donors for ad- this type of work and we
Freelance 4 of putty-nosed guenons and ditional large enclosures at look forward to reporting
Producer visits
will compare levels of the new site. their findings in a later
Rhoko
aggression and stereotypic Many of the pri- edition of CERCONEWS.
4 behaviour in two groups mates housed at CERCOPAN
Microscopes
donated before and after their
relocation to a new larger
First step in 5 enclosure.
pre-release
The IPS grant
Climate Change 5
received in March 2009 is
adaptation pro- being used in combination
ject moves to
next stage
with parts kindly
donated and Matthew
specially or- beginning his
Want to be a 6
apart of it? dered from the putty-nosed
USA by Gary and guenon
Elizabeth Young research
2. PAGE 2
From the Director primates eased Conor in
I’ve got a list on National staff are now
the wall in my office. I’m contributing directly to to his working with
sure you’ve all got one our Research monkeys for the first
just like mine. At the end programme by conduct- time. Likewise, visiting
of a gruelling day you ing behavioural studies students Claire and Eleri
stare up at it, and vow on captive primate gained the practical
yet again to make a start groups in Calabar. experience they need as
on Item Number 1…… Typically in the past, a requirement for their
tomorrow. If only day-to- visiting volunteers have degrees in Wildlife
day short-term emergen- carried out such work. Conservation, while
cies didn’t constantly call With the arrival providing directly to our
for your attention! of our new, highly operational needs.
Capacity experienced Community There’s a thought for
Enhancement, building Conservation Manager, those of you considering
local skills up to Rachel Hemingway, our contributing your skills
international standards ability to enhance the through our Working
so that we become skills within our host Holidays volunteer
Claire Coulson programme.
self-sustaining, is a very community in Alternative
CERCOPAN high priority on my list. Livelihoods has taken a Glancing up at
Director So it was very gratifying big leap forward. And my list again, the
as we brought together our Vet Nurse Austin progress we have made
this month’s issue, to had a very productive motivates me to press
see just how much month working along- on and set higher
“In the wild, yellow progress we’ve made in side visiting Vet student standards for achieve-
the recent past. Conor Rowan. ments for the future. I
billed kites are In our lead It works both hope you all
article you can read ways. Austin’s years of learn to love
scavengers and feed
about how two of our experience working with your lists too!
on carrion, fish and
even termites. We Welcome Rachel!!!
After months of Iko Esai, and also expand- Additionally, she has also
have therefore been
searching, CERCOPAN has ing our community volunteered in Bolivia, the
feeding the Kite, who finally found a new programme into the Philippines and China.
we have called Bert, a Community Conservation surrounding villages. With her vast
Manager. Previously Rachel experience we look
mix of dead rats and
Rachel was employed by ‘Water forward to integrating her
meat scraps bought
Hemingway, from the UK, for Africa’, which took ideas into our already
at the market“ joined us on the 29th. She her to many countries successful programme and
will be living and working including Tanzania, we welcome her into the
Our latest CERCOPAN in our host community, Zambia and Ethiopia. CERCOPAN family.
addition: a Yellow Billed
Kite
New Arrival!
This month we hoped he would be able to a mix of dead rats and meat
received quite a surprise sell the bird to our staff for a scraps bought at the market.
when our Education Officer, handsome profit, but We are minimizing
Abakum Owai walked into the Abakum eventually managed human contact as much as
office brandishing a juvenile to convince him both to hand possible and have placed Bert
bird of prey! it over freely and never to in a large enclosure where he
The bird, believed take another again. is able to practice flying. We
to be a yellow-billed kite, was In the wild, yellow hope to eventually release
brought to CERCOPAN by it’s billed kites are scavengers Bert back into the wild, once
former owner ’Wisdom’ , who and feed on carrion, fish and he is able to fend for himself.
had taken the bird from it’s even termites. We have Check out our blog
nest and cared for it for a therefore been feeding the www.cercopan.wildlifedirect.
month. Initially, Wisdom Kite, who we have called Bert, org to follow his progress!
3. VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3
Specialized Internships; No Ordinary Class Conor and our Vet
Nurse, Austin,
Field Trip! learning from each
other while carrying
CERCOPAN offers our Calabar cat. Conor’s work some of our primates to new out veterinary
tailored internship programmes proved extremely valuable to enclosures, which involved procedures
to college/university students the organisation and both he darting the monkeys and taking
and individuals seeking and our Vet Nurse, Austin, morphological measurements.
experience in order to pursue a learnt a great deal from one Claire and Eleri have
career in conservation. The another. acquired habitat surveying
internships are generally based In addition, we also skills and have monitored fruit
at Rhoko our forest site, but currently have Plymouth production and seasonal
there are also limited opportu- students Claire and Eleri change whilst assisting our
nities available for interns with interning with us to satisfy long-term phenology research.
veterinary experience at our three months of the practical They have also gathered
Calabar HQ rehabilitation component required by their behavioural data on our
centre. Wildlife Conservation degrees. primates using scan and focal
In the last month, we Claire and Eleri are based at our sampling and have conducted
were very lucky to have a Rhoko site and will spend three surveys of Crematogaster ant
visiting veterinarian months there, gaining nests as part of an
volunteering between our experience in all aspects of our international butterfly survey “They have also
Rhoko and Calabar sites. Conor forest and primate being undertaken at the site.
Rowan, from Ireland, is just conservation work. If you are interested
gathered
months away from completing The Plymouth in undertaking an internship at
his veterinary training and
behavioural data
students are doing extremely CERCOPAN, there are currently
decided to carry out some of well and have already worked still opportunities available in on our primates
the final practical requirement alongside our experienced 2010! Please contact Director
for his course here with us. primate keepers, learning Claire Coulson using scan and
During his time at CERCOPAN hands on animal care and (claire.coulson@cercopan.org)
he was involved in numerous focal sampling and
welfare techniques including to discuss the programme,
tasks including TB tests, feeding, cleaning, and availability, costs and booking. have conducted
monkey relocations, stitching producing enrichment ideas for Further information is also
up monkey ‘war wounds’ , enclosures. They were also available on our website surveys of
dealing with primate ailments involved in the transfer of www.cercopan.org.
such as abscesses and spaying Crematogaster ant
nests as part of an
international
butterfly survey
being undertaken
at the site”
Eleri providing
enrichment to
Rhoko’s resident
Managbeys
4. PAGE 4
Pica Reunited With Mother
Pica, one of our keepers, volunteers and all of overly maternal, but the pair
infant mangabeys, has the other monkeys housed are definitely starting to
recently been reunited with near her enclosure. develop a much better
her mother after many We were initially relationship now that Pica no
months of separation. concerned about introducing longer requires round the
Born to Peace, a Pica back to the group as her clock attention. Pica has also
first time mother, Pica had a father, the leader, is a particu- very successfully
very difficult start to life. Her larly dominant male and can re-established close bonds
mother sadly failed to provide be quite aggressive at times. with Marvelous and Marley,
the attention, care and milk Consequently, we have sepa- her half brother and sister
she needed, leaving rated her and Peace into a with whom she played
CERCOPAN staff with no satellite attached to the main constantly when she was
Pica finding her feet choice but to remove the enclosure to monitor her young. Whilst all of the play-
back in family infant and hand-rear her. interactions with the group ing and grooming with her
siblings currently takes place
surroundings again During this time her before going ahead with a full
reintroduction . through a mesh divide, very
friendly and playful
soon they will be back
personality shone though, At the moment
together as a proper family.
making her a favorite with Peace’s behaviour is still not
“Pica has also very
successfully
Freelance Producer Visits Rhoko
re-established close
This month, contain over half of the coun- We wish Emma the
bonds with CERCOPAN Rhoko was visited tries remaining rainforest, but best of luck with her quest to
by Emma Brumpton , a also 78% of its primate spe- attain other good footage
Marvelous and freelance producer associated cies. Emma stopped for a few around the country and are
with National hours at our forest site to waiting in anticipation to see
Marley, her half
Geographic. Searching for gather clips on the rainforest, if we appear on any
brother and sister footage on the endangered our endangered monkeys, channels! So keep you’re eyes
primates of Nigeria she was and our camp, interviewing peeled—you may notice one
with whom she attracted to Cross River as the occasional member of of our mangabeys on T.V in
not only does the state staff as she went. the near future!
played constantly
when she was young”
Microscopes donated
Austin putting to use one CERCOPAN staff , sis and parasitology tests, update equipment can be
of our older microscopes were very excited when we which are undertaken each hard to find. In the past,
recently received the news month to ensure that all of among other things, generous
that two microscopes had our resident primates remain donors have provided
been donated to the healthy and parasite free. In veterinary drugs and supplies,
organization and were on addition, the old CERCOPAN new laptop computers,
their way to Nigeria. veterinary microscope will be uniforms, electrical inverters
CERCOPAN applied sent to the Rhoko research and batteries. If you or the
to receive the Microscopes centre to aid flora and fauna company where you work
when the Zoological identification. have any equipment available
Department of Oxford Donations of for donation that you think
University updated their equipment are always very may be useful to CERCOPAN
equipment. The microscopes gratefully received by please contact us today at
will be used by the veterinary CERCOPAN as funds to info@cercopan.org.
staff to perform faecal analy-
CERCO-NEWS
5. VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 PAGE 5
Further advances made towards release
Plans to release our food. and blood
second group of Mona monkeys Over the past several samples taken
into the Rhoko core area months, we worked very hard to before they
continued to move apace this attain wood and build the forest were moved to
month, with the transfer of all enclosures, which were finally their new home.
captive monas already based at completed last month.
In the
the site to carefully spaced forest Rhoko staff, along with
future we intend
enclosures. This step was vital to visiting vet Conor Rowan and
to supplement
avoid having an area with a high interns Claire Lofthouse and Eleri
the Rhoko
density of captive Monas. Such an Jenkins, moved the animals to
captive groups
area could attract any released their new enclosures, an
with additional Etimbuk in good
animals and discourage them operation that took several hours.
juveniles with the aim of conduct- hands
from setting up their territory in a Each Mona monkey was first
ing further releases in late 2010/
truly wild part of the forest away darted and then whilst asleep, full
ealry 2011.
from enclosures, and provisioned health checks were performed ‘’Improved
agricultural
techniques, and
Climate Change adaptation project moves livelihood
on to next stage diversification,
can reduce the
Phase 1 of the be provided with the help of tication), and providing garri-
Building Nigeria’s Response to Cross River State NGO processing equipment for dependency on,
Climate Change (BNRCC) Mfaminyen. Farmer Field women (garri is a local staple
project was recently Schools will be run in Iko Esai, food made from cassava). and therefore
completed. It involved and neighbouring community Improved agricultural
assessing the problems already Agoi. The Field Schools will fall techniques, and livelihood destruction of
caused, or predicted, due to under the umbrella of the diversification, can reduce the
the natural
climate change, and the types Sustainable Tree Crops dependency on, and therefore
of potential solutions that the Programme (STCP), which is a destruction of the natural resource base”
target communities would like public-private partnership resource base. The rainforest
to see tested. We are now managed by the International can remain as a long-term
about to pilot the chosen Institute of Tropical provider of sustainable
adaptation strategies in Phase Agriculture (IITA). The (non-destructive) livelihoods,
2. programme seeks to generate and exist as the fall-back
The existing growth in rural income among resource to help survive
Community Land-Use tree crop farmers in an short-term, extreme climate
Management Plan in our host environmentally and socially change impacts.
community, Iko Esai, will be responsible manner.
adjusted and further Additionally
extended, incorporating the we will be setting up
results of the Phase 1 hazard an alternative
mapping exercise. Protection livelihoods
of watersheds and improved programme for
farming practices incorporated households (such as
into the plan will be aimed at bee-keeping, and
ensuring continued availability Non-
of water all year round for Timber Garri
domestic use. Forest processing
Training in the use of Product in Iko Esai
fuel-efficient wood stoves will domes-
