Returning Rescued Primates Back to the Wild
Lunga Luswishi Wildlife Project, Zambia
- Primates and other wildlife killed for the bush meat trade
The Lunga Luswishi Wildlife Project in Zambia offers rescued and confiscated vervet monkeys and yellow baboons an opportunity to live life back in the wild. Primates that have been orphaned or injured in the wild as a result of the growing bush meat trade in Zambia, held illegally captive as pets in people’s homes, injured in road traffic and snare accidents or stoned by people.
The primates are rescued or confiscated by our team of local project staff and overseas volunteers, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and concerned members of the general public. Many of the primates have suffered immense cruelty at the hands of humans and are received by us in appalling condition. We ensure, however, that care is provided for each and every rescued animal, housing them initially for a period of intensive rehabilitation at the Munda Wanga Wildlife Sanctuary in Lusaka.
Munda Wanga provides life long care for those primates that are injured so badly that they can never be released back to the wild. The others are nursed slowly back to health, integrated into tight knit social groups, and provided with predator avoidance training in order to maximise their chance of survival once back in the wild.
- A LLWP volunteer confiscating a vervet monkey illegally kept as a pet
A key aspect of this sanctuary care is veterinary support. Funding from Born Free USA is providing for regular visits by specialist wildlife vets to Munda Wanga. The vets, along with carrying out routine health monitoring checks for all primates in the sanctuary’s care, conducts training to upskill the primate carer team on nutritional matters, general husbandry, hygiene, handling, etc. The vets also screen all incoming animals during their quarantine period and perform health checks on all primates prior to their release back into the wild to ensure they do not place any wild primates at risk.
Munda Wanga provides life long care for those primates that are injured so badly that they can never be released back to the wild. The others are nursed slowly back to health, integrated into tight knit social groups, and provided with predator avoidance training in order to maximise their chance of survival once back in the wild. A key aspect of this sanctuary care is veterinary support. Funding from Born Free USA is providing for regular visits by specialist wildlife vets to Munda Wanga.
The vets, along with carrying out routine health monitoring checks for all primates in the sanctuary’s care, conducts training to upskill the primate carer team on nutritional matters, general husbandry, hygiene, handling, etc. The vets also screen all incoming animals during their quarantine period and perform health checks on all primates prior to their release back into the wild to ensure they do not place any wild primates at risk.
- Project Field Manager, Cosmas Mumba (r), monitoring released primates with George, one of the Project's Research Assistants.
Thereafter, for those where a life in the wild is possible, the primates are released back to the wild as part of our annual ‘soft’ release programme in Zambia’s Lunga Luswishi Game Management Area (Northern Kafue).
To date over 60 yellow baboons and 140 vervet monkeys have been released back to the wild. From a research camp deep in the bush, our project field staff, lead by Lusaka-born Cosmas Mumba, release and then monitor the primates daily for a 6 month period post-release to assess the success of their re-introduction back into the wild.
Additionally, with the support of ZAWA scouts from Lunga and Kalalushi Commands, we conduct regular anti-poaching patrols to keep the area safe for both the released primates and other wildlife resident in the area. To date our anti-poaching patrols have led to the arrests of hundreds of poachers and the confiscation of hundreds of guns, bikes and thousands of snares, proving that small projects like ours can make a significant contribution to wildlife conservation.
The majority of released primates have adapted extremely well to life back in the wild and are now foraging and fending for themselves living a truly free life. We have also witnessed two wild births this year – babies Freedom and Liberty.
- Project Scientific Advisor Dr. Cheryl Mvula fitting a yellow baboon with a radio collar.
We are currently working hard monitoring a troop of vervet monkeys released during November 2008 and in preparing the next yellow baboon troop at Munda Wanga for release in April 2009. Dr Cheryl Mvula, Born Free volunteer and the project’s Scientific Director, commented, “The baboons are currently undergoing training on how to recognise and avoid 2 of their main predators in the wild – birds of prey and snakes. In the case of snakes this has involved building mock termite mounds, which in the wild are often used by primates as feeding stations and lookout points, and inserting ‘mildly electrified’ wooden snakes into holes within the mound. They soon learn that snakes are not to be played with!’
The release project and the anti-poaching patrol work are funded primarily by the Born Free Foundation. Born Free also contributes towards the costs of health screening and health provision of the primates whilst being rehabilitated back to health at Munda Wanga.
Local sponsors include BWANA MUKUBWA MINING COMPANY in Ndola whose invaluable support includes providing the project with its life-blood of fuel and covering vehicle servicing and maintenance costs without which the project could not undertake its primate rescue, research and anti-poaching work, SHOPRITE who supply the field team with food donations each month, ATTIE’S BODY CLINIC who maintain the project’s vehicle, which was provided with a grant thanks to the ANIMAL DEFENSE TRUST, and C&B TRANSPORT who provide a truck to transfer the primates from Munda Wanga to the release site each year.
How You Can Help
If you would like to offer the project support in the form of a donation towards its anti-poaching patrols or field operations, to sponsor essential kit (new or second-hand) on the project team’s ‘wish list’ e.g. vehicle tyres, laptop, digital camera, video camera, 2-way radios, or to volunteer to work on the project (1 - 3 month placements are available in Zambia) please contact the project’s Scientific Director: cdmvula@aol.com or Chris Wright on chrisw@bornfree.org.uk
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