20629-F. Standing alone it is doubtful that those six
characters evoke much empathy from anyone. Perhaps it would mean more if
you realized what the characters 20629-F represent...
That's the identification number on the Primate Freedom
Tag of the rhesus macaque (born on June 30th 1980) at the California
Regional Primate Research Center who I sponsor. I named her "Faith"
because to me, and though I've never met her, I consider her an
individual being and not a number. The name "Faith" was chosen because I
believe it is essential that we, as advocates and activists, keep the
faith that our efforts will someday result in liberation for Faith (aka
# 20629-F) and thousands of other individuals in laboratories.
If you have ever met a monkey in a "research" facility,
or one who has been retired from life as a "tool for research," you may
have noticed a number tattooed on him/her. It is much easier to
desensitize and be detached from the individual if one refers to the
individual by an arbitrary number rather than a personal name; thus in
laboratories, it is much easier to inflict pain on them when one is
detached and desensitized from the fact that a living, feeling being is
the subject at one's hands.
As animal protection proponents, we are careful not to
use numbers and labels which remove references to the sentiency of the
individuals. However, inadvertently, we do it all the time in a
different way. Many of our campaigns are focused on groups comprised of
numbers of animals. Though the individual animals are not being referred
to as specific numbers (as is the case in laboratory environments,) when
we read "12,000 mink"; "421 monkeys"; "500,000 rats", a similar
detachment from the fact that these numbers represent individuals often
occurs.
I just had the honor of spending a week volunteering at
the Texas Snow Monkey Sanctuary. Keeping in line with appreciation of
individuals, rather than writing a scientific-type essay about the
social structure of snow macaques, or the assimilation process for
captive baboons, I want to provide an introduction to some of the
wonderful individuals I met at the sanctuary.
First a little background: The Texas Snow Monkey
Sanctuary is located on 186 acres of desert scrub land near Dilley Texas
(approximately 80 miles south of San Antonio and an equal distance north
of the Mexico border.) The sanctuary has two large enclosures surrounded
by state-of-the-art, high-voltage electric fences.
The smaller five acre enclosure is home to over 30 snow
macaques, twelve vervets and 19 cats. [Yes, cats! As far as humans are
concerned, the cats are "feral" and unapproachable but as amazing as it
may seem, the cats are the companion "pets" to the monkeys. The monkeys
play chase with the cats and cuddle up with them at night. I've seen
this monkey-cat rapport for years but I always find it almost
unbelievable.] The larger 65 acre enclosure contains 316+ (depending on
expected births which may have occurred this week) snow macaques.
Most all of the macaques are descendants of a troop
relocated by necessity from Japan to Texas in 1972. A few of the snow
macaques are former "pets" who became uncontrollable or ones who were
retired or rescued from "research." Half of the vervets are former
"pets" who were relinquished or abandoned and the other half were
previously used in laboratory experiments.
The Texas Snow Monkey Sanctuary is a magical place. The
monkeys have proven to have survival skills for coping with all the
South Texas fauna and flora, including predators and dangers which would
not be instinctive or innate for their species. The monkeys have adapted
beautifully to the former unfamiliar environment, even developing new
alarm calls for various dangers. It is the closest thing I've ever
witnessed to allowing captive monkeys to live freely.
After every visit to TSMS, I've said that I could just
pitch a tent in one of the enclosures and live there happily (the
monkeys never cease to amaze me); though I doubt I'd adapt as quickly as
the snow macaques and vervets have. A rattlesnake would probably have me
for lunch before I caught on to the alarm call the monkeys created and
fully understand to indicate the presence of rattlesnakes. In fact, it
was the fifth day I was in Dilley when I "discovered" that there are
scorpions indigenous to the area! [The "discovery" was not an academic
one, but rather when Lou Griffin picked up a scorpion half an inch from
my shoe and nonchalantly said, "Look, a little scorpion." After my
initial panic attack, I was paranoidly aware of the presence of
scorpions and kept a watchful eye for scorpions for the duration of the
visit.]
Only a few monkeys at TSMS are caged in traditional (but
spacious and enriched) enclosures. These are the newcomers who are
learning to become monkeys so they can be introduced into the
free-ranging colonies. The sanctuary has never had a monkey who could
not be fully rehabilitated with enough time and patience, regardless of
how much "humanization"; abuse, or neglect the monkey experienced in a
previous situation. The official motto of the sanctuary is "Humans don't
help... Humans don't hurt..." The monkeys pay almost no attention to
humans who are in their free-ranging enclosures. Why should they? They
have plenty of monkey socializing and monkey politics to attend to and
(YAWN), from their point of view and in the greater scheme of things,
humans are pretty boring.
That is until feeding time!
I've often heard humans comment that monkeys are
"grubby" [well, it may be true but I prefer to say "focused on
sustenance"] because they do indeed enjoy their food. The second day of
my visit to TSMS, a young vervet in the smaller mixed enclosure jumped
from a tree into the bucket I was feeding treats from -- right into the
bucket! Everyone who knows me well knows my longtime affinity for
vervets but I couldn't let him stay in the bucket. Unfortunately, that
looked like an excellent idea to a couple of adolescent macaques and
before I could figure out what to do with the precocious little vervet,
the little macaques were trying to secure a place in the bucket too! I
had no choice but to "dump" them out, salvaging all the food I could.
Well, they all started screaming bloody-murder because they didn't get
their way and a bunch of adult macaques came to the rescue. "Yipes!," I
thought as they approached! But then, the Mamma macaques just
reprimanded the youngsters (as all good mothers do.)
One of the adult females stayed by my side the rest of
the time and (sometimes standing semi bi-pedally, holding on to my pant
leg,) she "protected" me from any trouble-seeking youngsters who were
harassing me (that's a favorite game to the fearless and rebellious
little ones) and ones who were trying to "steal" food. I never had a
chance to point her out to Lou (Lou Griffin, the dedicated and
hardworking Executive Director of TSMS who knows each and every monkey
by name upon sight) to find out her name, but I can tell you that she is
one dynamo monkey who I'll never forget! I sneaked a caramel to her that
evening and gave her a little wink. In typical macaque style, she just
kept a stoic look on her face and gracefully ate the caramel. We're pals
forever now! She protected me every day I worked in the smaller
enclosure and I tried to give her a token "Thank you" treat every day.
My favorite part of this visit to Texas Snow Monkey
Sanctuary was getting to meet the ten newly arrived baboons. The baboons
were retired from 11 years of vascular "research" at Boston University
Medical College. They were wild caught in Africa as very young baboons
and before arriving at TSMS in mid-April, none had seen or heard other
baboons since their capture. I spent hours "socializing" them so they'll
be prepared for assimilation as a group in the 5 acre enclosure being
built for them. I talked to them (part baboon talk and part English);
assured them they wouldn't be harmed, fed them lots of good food several
times a day. Sometimes I would be so happy that The Big Boys (as we
began to affectionately call them) are no longer in danger and are
beginning to trust and show the appreciation they feel, that I'd cry. It
was a happy cry of course... I hope all the animals in labs now can be
so lucky someday and be afforded the opportunity for a peaceful life out
of harm's way.
The Big Boys learned quickly that I was not trying to
trick them or harm them. After a few days, most of them began grooming
me or letting me groom them (especially the latter, which is most common
behavior for male baboons -- being on the receiving end of grooming.)
They drank from my water glass; licked broken ice cubes from my hand and
readily accepted all the yummy (albeit healthy) treats I brought and
hand fed to them. Every morning, I cooked a special and nutritious
breakfast for them. [Upon hearing this news, my fiancée commented in an
amused way, "Gee, you never cook for me like that." to which I
responded, "You were never in a lab! Those guys deserve to be given
special attention."]
I'll try not to write a novel about each of The Big Boys
but I would be remiss if I did not describe each of them and their
unique personalities.
Lancelot, Rocky, Joshua and Shaq... These four are
magnificent looking! I wouldn't hesitate to say that they are the
Chippendales of the baboon kingdom. Lance has the most beautiful eyes
and features, I was immediately infatuated with him (and he's very
gentle.) Rocky has a powerhouse stature and always a stoic and wise
look. Shaq, had he remained in the wild, could have led any baboon troop
with confidence and dignity. Joshua is still a little shy and reticent
about fully trusting humans but he is slowly coming around as time
passes.
O.J., O'Reilly and Jimmy... These three simply love
attention and the only thing they love more than being doted on is food.
Any food. All food. Jimmy especially never seemed to tire of eating and
smacked his lips and blinked his eyelids quickly if he thought you had
any morsel of food he could be given. And Jimmy would "Thank me" for the
smallest tidbit I gave him by lip smacking and rapidly rubbing my hands
in his. Sweet Jimmy is a slight little fellow with unattractive, uneven
features and a splotchy complexion but his personality and gregarious
nature wins him a special corner in the hearts of everyone who meets
him!
Mr. Mellow... He's the largest of The Big Boys, weighing
104 pounds! Though he eats well and is rather overweight, he's not
greedy about food. He eats delicately and would pick and chose what he
wanted from the foods I offered to him. Instead of hastily stuffing any
and all food in his cheek pouches, Mr. Mellow would make a little pile
in front of himself and separate the food items by the order he wanted
to eat them. Mr. Mellow always ate the crunchy peanut butter on toast
sandwiches I gave him exactly like most humans do, holding it with two
hands and sometimes even picking off the crust and discarding it! [Some
of The Big Boys took the sandwich apart and ate the peanut butter first
and then the bread -- they all had a different method.]
Moe... He has figured out that someone should be boss
and he's decided that he'll take on that responsibility! He is
constantly testing his effectiveness and engaging in power struggles
with everyone, including humans and dogs! Moe-Moe (his nickname) comes
across as being belligerent but it is all more for show than legitimate
because he forgot to be on guard too often to be taken seriously. I
tried not to let him see me laugh at his phony pseudo-macho behavior so
as not to offend him! He would have taken it very personally and likely
held a grudge.
Curly... Curly is in a class and category of his own.
Curly is blind. He is also precious by any standards, baboon or
otherwise. He responds wonderfully to hearing his name and begins
holding out his hands for whatever you are trying to give him. He gently
molds his hands around the food from one's hand and slowly examines it
by feeling and smelling it before gingerly taking a small bite to make
sure it's edible. We're hoping Curly's blindness is reversible and he
will soon be checked out by a team of veterinary opthalmologists. Keep
your fingers crossed! Blind or sighted, Curly will be given all the TLC
he needs to be a happy and well-adjusted baboon.
Last but definitely not least is Nicki. OK, first, Nicki
is not one of The Big Boys... Instead, she's the only Big Girl (though
she's quite petite.) Nicki, who was just introduced to The Big Boys last
weekend, came from a roadside zoo. She had met other monkeys but never
baboons. The look on her face when she arrived at The Big Boys'
enclosure was priceless! When I pointed out Lance (who was sitting on
his highest shelf) to Nicki her eyes completely bugged out and she sat
staring in dismay for a long while before shaking her head and doing a
double-take. Nicki was very impressed with her new friends!
Unfortunately, for Nicki (who was very "humanized" and used to being
"only baboon," which is similar to a spoiled only child), the newness
wore off quickly. After a couple of days, she was beside herself in
anger over any attention The Big Boys were getting. She screamed and
pouted and threw numerous temper tantrums, vying to get all the
attention for Queen Nicki (my nickname for her.) I am certain that she
will learn to appreciate being a baboon. It will just take time and it
will happen at Nicki's pace without the adjustment being forced on her.
If I ever win the lottery, I think I'll start a
Foundation that just takes people to our great sanctuaries. I can't
believe that if people see all the wonderful individuals, they could
ever harm them. Sure, I'm biased because many of these individuals I am
referring to are personal friends of mine, but I believe it would HAVE
TO make people think twice before inflicting harm on them.
Let us never forget that each being, large and small --
no matter the species -- is an individual... a unique, feeling being who
is here on this planet living what is quite possibly the only life that
individual will ever have ... as is true for humans as well.
For a peaceful kingdom and coexistence for all
individuals.
Go on to SoyStache
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