We hope that sharing the information we gather from our successes (and hardships) will help future monkey sanctuaries run smoothly as an increasing number of monkeys move to sanctuary life!
(Photo: Rocky falling asleep as Junior grooms him)
In case you missed our announcement, Rocky and Junior are now
companions living together in the same enclosure! And get this — not
only are they living in the same enclosure, they are playing with
each other, grooming each other, and occasionally sleeping next to
each other. This is not just any run-of-the-mill kind of monkey
pairing. For Junior especially, this is HUGE!!
Junior, our 16-year-old pig-tailed/lion-tailed hybrid macaque, has
lived alone for his entire life. Chances are, he was taken from his
mother when he was very young to be sold as a pet. Until his arrival
at Primates Incorporated in summer 2021, Junior likely had not seen
another monkey in nearly 16 years, let alone live with and befriend
another monkey!
Rocky, a sweet 16-year-old rhesus macaque also lived by himself at a
research lab, but likely saw many other monkeys and lived with
another monkey at some point in the past.
Given that Junior did not have any social experience with other
monkeys, we wanted to give him plenty of time to acclimate to his
new home and learn social behavior from our other role model monkeys
in the building. Since Junior is a different species of monkey than
the rest of our monkeys, his “language” and communication style are
also naturally a bit different. Over the past 7 months with us,
Junior and our rhesus macaque crew have been learning each other’s
“languages.”
Meanwhile, staff have been monitoring their interactions, learning
which monkeys were becoming allies with one another. Macaques are
strong and have very large, sharp canine teeth that can do a lot of
damage in a fight. Therefore, introducing monkeys to one another is
always a bit precarious and needs to be well planned to avoid
injuries. Similar to people, not all monkeys get along. We cannot
just put two monkeys together and expect them to like each other.
Since this is the monkeys’ retirement, we also focus on letting them
tell us what they want, including who they want to be with, so we
can ensure they are as content as possible!
We have to admit – although we had high hopes for Rocky and Junior
together, their relationship has already surpassed our expectations.
Junior loves to groom Rocky, and Rocky just melts to sleep as Junior
grooms him. They like to gently wrestle with each other, chase each
other, and follow each other around – all in an adorable, friendly
fashion. They’ve both gained confidence and spend more time
exploring. Junior historically has not been very excited about food
and now he scoops it right up like our other monkeys. We are
over-the-moon seeing so much positive interaction between them.
Their true personalities are absolutely blossoming, and it is
incredibly rewarding to watch.
Photo: Junior and Rocky play-wrestling on their picnic table
The successful pairing of Junior and Rocky gives us import evidence that in a sanctuary setting:
We hope that success stories such as these will promote sanctuary life for monkeys, when possible, regardless of their species or background. Additionally, we hope that sharing the information we gather from our successes (and hardships) will help future monkey sanctuaries run smoothly as an increasing number of monkeys move to sanctuary life!