Sweetie

Sweetie had been kept as a captive pet since a baby, when she lost her arm in an accident. Although she has always been well looked after, first by her original rescuer and then by kind animal people, she had never had the opportunity to meet and associate with any other monkey, or even have a monkey friend. Such interactions are so important in a monkey’s life. Coming to the Primate Trust, we hoped we could encourage her to lead a fuller life with her own species.

Matilda, who lost her companion last year, had resisted all attempts to find her a new friend from our residents, so we hoped that if her and Sweetie got on together, it would help them both.

With some trepidation from us humans Sweetie was brought to the Tree House, but it seemed we were much more worried by the stress of a change of scenery for her than she was! She hardly skipped a beat at her new surroundings and was very happy to immediately try out the various exotic fruits and vegetables that we give to our resident monkeys. After a little walk in the garden, we cautiously took her to meet Matilda. Sweetie was rather tentative at first about meeting another monkey face to face but Matilda had the sense to take it slowly , and it wasn’t very long before, for the first time since being a baby, Sweetie knew what it felt like to be groomed by monkey fingers.

Sweetie and Matilda now happily share a pen, and Sweetie also grooms Matilda, so they’re now good friends, although Matilda will always be the boss!

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