Abused vervet monkey rescued in Empangeni recovering well at CROW
After a bad start in life which led to her suffering from severe burns, Baby Irene is making a remarkable recovery at CROW
THE three-month-old vervet monkey rescued by a good Samaritan on the outskirts of Empangeni, is making remarkable progress after suffering severe burns and infected puncture wounds from being dragged along the hot road by her tail.
Baby Irene, as she would later come to be known, was rescued two months ago by Mtunzini resident Kevin Rundle.
‘I saw a group of young boys dragging this baby vervet monkey along the hot road by her tail and I had to intervene,’ said Kevin shortly after the incident.
‘After successfully encouraging them to let go of her, she darted into the bush.’
The next morning, however, Rundle returned to the area and saw her.
‘I slowly walked up to her and she came over to me,’ he said.
After initially being taken in by the CROW (Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife) Empangeni Depot’s Irene Liversage, the monkey was transferred to CROW in Durban where she underwent intensive treatment in the ICU.
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‘Apart from severe burn wounds to both her back feet and badly infected puncture wounds, Baby Irene was severely dehydrated,’ said CROW Director Paul Hoyte.
She has since recovered well and is now enjoying hanging out in the nursery with 10 other baby vervets.
‘At a later stage, the group will be joined with the older babies and then moved to the bigger enclosures as a troop,’ said Hoyte.
Once the troop has settled, it will be released onto a farm and closely monitored.
CROW is always looking for additional wildlife release sites and has asked the public to contact the organisation on 031 462 1127 should anyone be aware of suitable sites within KZN.
CROW is the only wildlife rehabilitation centre in Durban registered to work with all types of indigenous wildlife found in KZN.
Every year CROW rescues, rehabilitates and releases more than 3 000 orphaned, injured and displaced wild animals. As a registered non-profit organisation, CROW is 100% reliant on donations from the public.
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