Jungle Friends
Primate Sanctuary
June 2016
I am sad Herbie has passed, but so very happy he spent the last 12 years at the sanctuary after being retired from research.
It is with mixed emotions that I write to you about my dear friend
Herbie, the squirrel monkey. I am sad he passed, but so very happy he spent
the last 12 years at the sanctuary after being retired from research.
I am lucky to have known Herbie since the day he arrived at Jungle Friends.
Herbie and Kilroy, along with 6 other squirrel monkeys who were retiring
from laboratory research, arrived in 2004 in the midst of several
hurricanes! It was meeting Herbie and his friends that convinced me to close
down my own business and dedicate myself to working full-time for the
monkeys at Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary!
Monkeys who come to Jungle Friends after living in a research lab especially
touch my heart. Everytime I looked at Herbie, or one of the other squirrel
monkeys who were in the same drug studies, I thought about how lucky they
were to be able to go outside now. I wanted to provide the best life
possible for them, making sure they had plenty of good food everyday and
catering to their individual tastes. Herbie loved to be outside. Every day
he would go out and find a spot to bask in the sun. But it wasn't just the
sun that Herbie loved. He usually slept outside too.
Herbie lived a happy, healthy life here at the sanctuary until last
summer when we noticed he was drooling and appeared to be losing weight. Dr.
Schirmer discovered the tumors in Herbie's mouth and throat. He removed five
tumors from his tongue, but the diagnosis was cancer. Herbie fared better
than we expected him to. He looked forward to eating, grapes and earthworms
especially, and he continued to seek out a sunny spot to enjoy.
In the last few months of his life, we thought Herbie was leaving us several
times. Some days he would be listless in the morning, but he always rallied,
he wasn't ready to leave us yet. I was thinking he was like the "Energizer
Bunny", that keeps on going. However, yesterday Herbie was not responding to
Bri when she checked on him at first light. Kari was radioed and when she
saw Herbie's condition, she determined it was time for hospice care. Our
veterinarian team were contacted and we were instructed on his medication to
be sure he was pain free.
Herbie lived only a few hours longer, but he was moved outside in the sun
with a nice breeze and was with his long-time friend Kilroy when his
beautiful spirit left his tiny body. Kilroy visited with Herbie throughout
the morning giving him comfort.
Kilroy and Herbie's other monkey friends will certainly miss him, I know
that I will miss seeing him every morning.
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