March 2019 Newsletter – Osa Wildlife Sanctuary

Babies, babies and more babies…

Hello, Friends of the Sanctuary!

Riley has had to step down as the only child. On January 26th little Teo, a squirrel monkey was born and rejected by his mother. This often happens as the mother is poached at a very young age and never allowed to see and receive those social behaviors passed on.

Baby squirrel monkey face wrapped in blanket

Just minutes after birth.

Top view of baby squirrel monkey on stuffed animal

Side view of baby squirrel monkey on red blanket

Baby squirrel monkey asleep on stuffed animal

Life is so exhausting…

Baby squirrel monkey peering into camera with mouth open in a "smile", wrapped in red blanket on stuffed animal

Needless to say, he is thriving well.

Baby squirrel monkey on stuffed animal peering out from cloth encasement

Can you see the chick? Talk about camouflage!!!

Great Curassow (large brown and black bird) on ground surrounded by foliage and dead leaves with baby camouflaged behind her

A Great Curassow and her chick…

The flock is growing!!!

Scarlet macaws eating sunflower seeds from raised platform in rainforest

Charlie says that you can hear a chick coming from inside the nest box! There are two!

Sloth rescue…

Baby sloth hanging upside down in cage surrounded by foliage

We received a call from a neighbor across the Golfo about a three-toed sloth that was laying on its back on the ground. It was late afternoon and we could not get over to the other side until early the following morning. I suggested they put her in a crate, hydrate as much as possible with pipa juice and call me in the morning as to the time we could meet.

She had been bitten in the leg which was terribly infected and she was very weak. We cleaned the wound, started her on antibiotics and hydrated throughout the day. She seemed not to have much interest in food.

We put a hot water bottle under her to keep her extra warm through the night.

There is always some trepidation when you enter the clinic in the morning when you have an animal in serious condition. I was a little hesitant to look, but lo and behold—she was eating!

Now, it is just a matter of time for the wound to heal before we will be able to take her back from where she was found!

Capuchin rescue…

Young male capuchin behind held by worker while vet examines his arm

We received a call from a neighbor about a capuchin that had fallen from a tree and landed on concrete while Dr. Andrés Tello, our project veterinarian was making his monthly visit. He appeared to have a concussion. We went to check the juvenile to see what we could do. Dr. Tello injected him with a pain reliever and an anti-inflammatory with instructions to keep him calm and to continue with the injections for two more days. After five days, all the swelling around his eyes had gone down, he was moving normally and eating like a champ.

Carol and Luis holding a large dog carrier in the rainforest, looking into the trees at the young male capuchin they just released

We released him close to where he was found so that he may find his troop.

Cebus capucinus are territorial and are often referred to as “habitat specialists” in that they occupy a great diversity of habitats. They are extractive foragers known to specialize in food that “fight back”. They have even been observed wrapping their prey in leaves prior to rubbing them against branches to rid the noxious substances. Among the non-human primates, the Cebus genus and the great apes are considered to be the most adept and varied tool users

This little guy will have no problem surviving while he is waiting to encounter his troop.

Behind the scenes by Hope Emilia Cullen…

Young woman on beach with rainforest in background with spider monkey on her shoulders

Having lived in New England for my entire life, I knew when I set out to find a college internship it had to be somewhere warm so I could escape the brutal winters of Maine. When Carol accepted me as a volunteer I knew I was headed for an entirely different world, and when I left home I knew I needed to learn to expect the unexpected.

My first surprise was Sweetie. Carol told me to prepare myself for giggling monkeys, not for a spider monkey to come sit on my lap and beg for scratches. The second surprise was the accommodations: I was to live in a human cage! No privacy, no internet, no walls.

Over the course of the next few weeks many strange and wonderful (and sometimes scary) things happened. The first day Big Boo was moved to a larger cage, I learned that in order to clean the cage I had to extend my entire torso into it. Everything in my primitive brain was screaming DANGER as it brought my face less than a foot away from a bird of prey’s talons. Now I don’t even bat an eye. But the jungle perseveres. Every time you start to get comfortable, nature kicks you into gear once more.

Young woman syringe feeding baby squirrel monkey in her arms

Settling into a semi-normal routine, I felt confident in my ability to take on more responsibility when Carol was unexpectedly called away from the Sanctuary. Then, at dinner she dropped a bomb on me: a titi monkey was pregnant! VERY pregnant, and likely to give birth while she was away. Carol warned me of the possibility that the mother squirrel monkey might not accept the baby and that I would have to hand raise it. I prepared myself for that outcome but was still blown away when low and behold, nature delivered it’s biggest little surprise yet. Tiny Teo was born a day before Carol left and I was to become a “monkey mom”!

With Carol gone and myself being the only volunteer, it was up to me to raise what was essentially a new born baby–only one that was the size of a stick of butter-under 150 grams! After a few nights the schedule evened out and I had never thought 3-1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep could make one feel so refreshed.

Now Teo is over a month old and I am preparing to leave the sanctuary to return to my island home near the beautiful, but FREEZING COLD, Acadia National Park. I hope to come back and visit the sanctuary someday soon, but in the meantime, with my newly gained confidence, I’ll be looking ahead to wherever my path takes me, and I can’t wait to see what unexpected things are just around the corner.

We are under construction again!

View of the roof from the inside of the new learning center

We finally received all the governmental approvals to continue with the construction of our learning center. The roof will be completed today!

Thank you for your continued support…

OWS depends upon your donations to continue their life saving mission. It is kind people such as yourselves that help us with donations throughout the year.

Remember that your donations are tax-deductible and can be made using the PayPal icon below. Or, if you prefer, you can write a check made payable to: Osa Wildlife Sanctuary Foundation, Inc.and mail to P.O. Box 171, Greenwood, IN 46142-0171.

Thank you for visiting the Sanctuary and we look forward to your return.

In friendship,

PS—Hope Emilia will be deeply missed. She is one of our best volunteers OWS has ever had.

I was thinking she would break down and cry when I told her about the pregnant titi monkey, but she immediately started to read all the information we had on rearing neonates.

We look forward to her return.

Riley says, “Come on back and bring some grapes!”

Posted in News and tagged baby monkey, capuchin, education center, macaw, monkey, newsletter, rehabilitation, release, rescue, sloth, spider monkey, squirrel monkey, update, volunteer