You can make a real difference? You love the work that the Vervet Monkey Foundation does with the orphaned baby foster mom program and want to ensure they can continue with there work?

The Vervet Monkey Foundation is a sanctuary for abused, injured and orphaned vervet monkeys now in lockdown for 5 months. Without any income or funding from the government the very existence of the foundation is at risk. Donate today and help secure the food and funds necessary to continue the invaluable work being done to help the monkeys in need

Gimli's story

Gimli is a little orphaned monkey boy who was found by himself in a shed. His mum was presumably shot dead, but only Gimli knows what happened. It must have been something truly horrible because when he arrived in February 2020, he was severely traumatized and in emotional shock. The little boy curled himself in a ball and was petrified of humans.

Only slowly with patience and much love from his care takers, Gimli slowly warmed up to us. Unfortunately, Gimli had pneumonia, a severe respiratory disease which he may have picked up while he was sitting on the cold concrete floor in the shed waiting for his dead mum to come back. Gimli stayed in intensive care for three months (nearly three times longer than babies usually need human care for), until in April he was finally well enough to meet his foster mum.

Vervet monkeys are extremely sociable and caring animals. Adult females often adopt orphaned babies as their own and care for them until they are grown up. In Gimli's case, Litchie decided to adopt Gimli, and Gimli immediately fell in love with his new foster mother. Both monkeys embraced each other in a big hug.

Now, Gimli lives in a troop at James enclosure. He has some other monkey friends to play with – Luna and Gabe. Luna is an orphan from this year and Gabe from the previous year. Alpha female Briyani has chosen him to be her favourite. His future is in safe hands.

How was the VMF affected by COVID-19?

President Cyril Ramaphosa declared national emergency in March 2020 due to the corona virus pandemic. The imposed lockdown closed all international borders and left the VMF without any volunteers.

Volunteers are the backbone of the sanctuary. Their helping hands enables us to give orphaned, abused and injured monkeys a future, and their financial contribution helps covering the running costs of the VMF. Due to the travel restrictions, this income has run dry within a day.

5 months later amazingly we are still standing and able to care for all the monkeys thanks to the great help we have received from donors, former volunteers and long-term supporters as well as generous grants. However, the international travel bans are still in place and the VMF is in urgent need of financial aid.

How we use the money

Our primary focus is in securing the essential and basic needs for the monkeys. Donations will be used to cover costs for food items. The expenses for vegetables have increased tenfold since the beginning of the lock down as many small local farmers went out of business which means we now have to purchase at a much higher fee at full market price. Other essentials are milk for the babies; and keeping the vehicles up and running as without them we can't fetch water and food as well as collect injured monkeys. Lastly and most importantly, to cover vet bills for injured and sick monkeys. So far, we have been lucky to never have to turn down a monkey in need for financial reasons and it is our mission to keep it this way.