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[Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>]

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=vn20030813041332454C337459&set_id=1

Baby monkey saved from murderous mom

August 13 2003 at 04:13AM

By Jo-Anne Smetherham

They thought the newborn monkey was dead. Only when they lifted him out of 
the cage, and
he moved slightly, did they realise he might live.

The patas monkey was rejected by his mother when he was born 10 days ago at 
the World of
Birds at Hout Bay in Cape Town.

He gained strength after being incubated for two hours. Now he has three 
doting humans
taking turns to care for him. 

A ginger cat called Gilbert also gives him large amounts of affection.

"It has been my dream to hand-rear a primate," said Claire Louw, head curator 
of the
World of Birds, who looks after the monkey at home two days a week. He is 
cared for on
other days by manager Hendrik Louw, Claire's husband, and primate curator 
Yusuf Samba.

"He is so human it is uncanny, the way he touches faces and recognises me and 
Yusuf,"
said Claire. 

"He screams if someone he doesn't know picks him up. 

"He watches television - and our fish - with great interest. He is very 
alert. 

"If anything is going to prepare you for parenthood, it's this. He's a little 
miracle,
really." 

When he was born at the World of Birds, his mother tried to kill him, 
dropping him to the
ground from a perch 2m high, then hopping down to stifle his screams by 
holding her paws
over his mouth. 

She had been hand-reared, and probably didn't know how to care for her 
offspring.

The monkey has his own teddy bear and toy gorilla, whose faces he explores 
with his long
fingers.

He is fed every two hours. "It takes about half an hour after feeding him to 
get him back
to sleep at night," said Claire. 

"We are doing hundreds of loads of washing and tumble-drying. We are thinking 
of using
face-clothes as nappies - and cutting a hole for his tail."

Patas monkeys come from central Africa. They are the fastest of primates, and 
grow to the
size of a large dog.