A successful introduction has been made between two of our more vulnerable monkeys. Scotty, our latest rescued monkey, and Ruby, have started sharing their time together whenever possible. As with introducing any monkeys, it is important to take your time and gauge whether it would be safe and appropriate to bring them together. This was even more so with Ruby, as she suffers from mental health problems, and in general is very unsure of other monkeys. The staff realised that she was keen on Scotty as whenever she went out for a walk she wanted to go over and say hello. So each day they were given a bit of time together, under close supervision, to see how they would get on.
Scotty, like all young males, was very keen to get close to Ruby, and surprisingly, Ruby was equally as keen to get to know Scotty. After a few days of supervised introductions they were allowed to share the space they had with each other.
The big success was letting them both share the run of a pen together. Ruby has found it hard in the past to settle in a pen, and has shown signs of unrest by pacing and rocking. However, when we introduced them together in one of the pens the outcome was great. Due to their vulnerable temperaments they were quite unsure of how close to get to each other without overstepping boundaries. But it didn’t take long for them to realise that they were not a threat to each other, and were sat sharing food and enjoying the space they had to explore.
One thing they don’t have in common is their view towards cats. Ruby adores the cats at the tree house,
but whenever one of the cats came past the pen, Scotty would try and scare it away, much to Ruby’s dislike. I’m sure after time Scotty will learn to like the cats as much as Ruby, especially if he wants to impress his new friend.
Mango, one of the first cats to arrive at the Tree House, sadly passed away recently. Attempts were made to stabilise his condition and treat him, but unfortunately his health deteriorated rapidly and he passed away on 5th August. He was a very gentle and loving cat, and will be missed by everybody at the Tree House.
