Rescue

Umsizi responds to calls from the local community about injured or orphaned vervet monkeys in need. We capture them, Take them to a vet and try treat their injuries. Not all make it but for the ones who do its a second chance on life. The orphans are hand raised by human surrogate mothers and given 24 hour care. They start to be weaned at 3 months from milk and their surrogate and get placed into a safe enclosure. They will continue to get milk for a while after that and eventually be fully weaned off at around 5 months as they naturally would in the wild.

Rehabilitate

Rehabilitation takes place after the babies are weaned and immediately for older monkeys. Most monkeys are put back with their troop but certain individuals for whatever reason cannot go back and this is mainly due to being attacked and rejected from the troop. They join the nursery group and help form a fully functional troop.

Release

Our favorite part at Umsizi is putting the monkeys back where they belong with their families in the wild. Although the rehabilitation troops cannot return to their families. They now are at a strong enough bond and old enough to be released in the wild as their own troop. Orphans are released after four years of rehabilitation and minimal human interactions. Patients who can go back to their troops are released after their injuries are healed as they are already wild and do not care for human interactions.