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It has been another busy year here at Colobus Conservation! We would first like to say Happy New Year to all and also a big thank you to all our supporters, our work would not be possible without you. So much has been achieved this year and there are many exciting and new projects in the pipeline. We are currently compiling all the required information for our annual report, which will be available on our website in the next coming weeks.
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| In 2016, Colobus Conservation continued to answer welfare calls, maintain the colobridges along the Main Diani Beach road, we hosted many school groups at the centre and released several primates. We wanted to share some of our highlights in 2016, work you have helped us achieve!
January– Betsy, the world’s first hand reared Angolan colobus monkey, celebrated her 5th Birthday on the 21st January. We also released four galagos, a lot of preparation and planning was done prior and all four galagos were carefully monitored after release.
February– Dr. Dennis Bahati, our resident vet, spoke at a workshop on his work at Colobus Conservation in Tanzania, on the measures within Colobus Conservation to control potentially harmful micro-organisms in both animals and the environment. We also saw the arrival of Pendo (meaning love in Swahili) a young Sykes monkey. Pendo arrived at Colobus Conservation on Valentines day. He was found clinging to his dead mother, who was trapped in a snare. He now lives with the other orphans at Colobus Conservation, you can adopt Pendo and other monkeys and help towards their care! |
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| March– We had our first person do a tandem skydive to raise funds for Colobus Conservation. If you are interested in helping us raise funds by tandem jumping please contact us for more information. China House, based in Nairobi, came to visit Colobus Conservation as part of their tour of conservation projects around Kenya. We saw the arrival Shuja (meaning ‘warrior’ in Swahili) a young male vervet and Kilifi, a juvenile female vervet, another victim of the pet trade.
April– Colobus Conservation went with Base Titanium to visit Gongoni Forest Users Association, a small community group growing a variety of indigenous trees. We organised for Diani’s local trees sellers to visit Gongoni Forest Users Association. They were able to share knowledge and explore ways they can work together in the future. We also held our third annual Tree Sale on the 29th and 30th April. |
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| May– Team Colobus conducted workshops at Amani Tiwi Resort and Swahili Beach Resort about Colobus Conservation, the local wildlife and how we can coexist with wild monkeys. Shujaa and Pendo who arrived earlier this year met the older orphans for the first time. Skydive Diani held one of their boogies and raised funds for Colobus Conservation. We were also recognised by Trip Adviser for our superior service, if you have visited and not yet left a review please do! On May 30th, Pam Cunneyworth, one of the directors of Colobus Conservation and Dr. Dennis Bahati, the Colobus Conservation veterinarian, attended the 10th anniversary celebration of the Africa network for Animal Welfare (ANAW). |
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| June– June saw a nationwide blackout caused by vervet monkey. It was also World Oceans Day and in celebration Colobus Conservation went with schools children to collect litter along Diani Beach. Luciana, one of Colobus Conservation’s directors, attended the Women of Excellence in Tourism Award Gala 2016 and received the award for her work in marine conservation. Diani witnessed a huge fire, starting from Neptunes Hotel, no one was reported hurt but many people lost their homes. A body of a colobus was found and a young Sykes came with a broken leg and obvious head injuries, she unfortunately did not make it. |
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| July– Colobus Conservation began a collection for people who lost their homes in the fire. Diani residents donated clothing, towels, mosquito nets etc. Which were distributed with the assistance of Red Cross. On July 12th, one of our directors, Pam Cunneyworth, and ANAW director, Kahinda Lekalhaile, met with Mr. John Guda, of Kenya Power, and his team, to discuss the issues of electrocution of primates in Diani on power lines and transformers. Colobus Conservation had many researchers join the team collecting vital data. We also held our first Dianimal fundraiser, people came out dressed in animal onesies to dance the night away, raising vital funding for the centre. We also had Citizen TV Kenya join us to film the work done at the centre. We were very sad to say good bye to Keith Thompson. Keith had been with Colobus Conservation for nearly 6 years. Finally Another orphan joined us, named Amadeus. |
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| August– In 2015, Colobus Conservation contributed to the book "Handbook for Road Ecology" by presenting a case study on colobridges and how they reduce injuries and deaths by vehicles on Diani’s beach road. The book won the 2016 project award by the Infra-Eco Network of Europe! Six Sykes were released and are doing exceptionally well. Green Bananaz designed a beautiful poster for Colobus Conservation, helping us raise further funding. If you are interested in purchasing, please contact us!
September– We received an incredibly kind donation from Abilene Zoo. We also received an ex-pet pata’s monkey confiscated by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS). We organised for the patas monkey to be transferred to the animal orphanage in Nanyuki where she joined other patas monkeys. A young bushbaby arrived at the centre, named Maji, found alone, under a tree. He entered rehabilitation and will be released once old enough. Colobus Conservation was awarded Tree Ambassador’s from Total Kenya ECOchallenge for our work in forest conservation. |
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| October– We hosted our second petanque family day which raised both awareness and vital funding. We received a donation of Microchips, a scanner and other veterinary supplies. Allowing us to chip all the primates that pass through the Colobus Conservation veterinary clinic. We also received an incredibly kind donation from Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. October is also the month we conduct the primate annual census. We counted 441 colobus, 693 Sykes, 213 vervets and 181 baboons. |
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| November– Colobus Conservation participated in a peaceful march to show our support and solidarity with Nairobi National Park. Kelly, the Conservation Manager spent 12 hours in an enclosure to help raise funds for the centre, if was a huge success and we look forward to future fun fundraisers. Yatima a young female vervet monkey arrives at the centre after being found alone at a nearby hotel, she was only a few days old.
December– Skydive Diani held another boogie and helped raise funds by selling unique skydive and colobus kikoys. The Sands At Nomad Diani Beach hosted a fabulous Christmas Craft Fair and donated all proceeds to Colobus Conservation. A young colobus monkey was bought to the centre by a motor bike driver, after he witnessed the young orphans mother death in a traffic road accident. She unfortunately did not make it due to internal injuries, but we were incredibly heart warmed by the motor bike drivers quick response to save the young colobus. |
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| The next year looks to be a busy one, this year marks Colobus Conservation’s 20 year anniversary, with this in mind we will begin making a documentary on the history and work Colobus Conservation has achieved, this will be used to create further awareness and for educational purposes, if you would like to help you can donate to the production. We also have a circus coming to Diani on the 29th January. We plan to do more releases of our captive primates and further work in forest and community conservation. Again thank you for all your continued and much needed support. From all of us at Colobus Conservation, we wish you all a fantastic 2017!
Yours Sincerely
Team Colobus! |
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