The travels of Lady G.: September 2013

I'll be honest, I am not normally much of a baboon person, and usually I'm not of much interest to them either. I am lucky in the sense that I tend not to get bitten or challenged too much by them, but generally they don't hone in on me for cuddles either. That is apart from two- Sheela who much now be about 18 months old and has become very cheeky - running off from baby baboon walks so she can spend more time cuddling the staff or running round doing her own thing! and our newest addition Hansi.

He came to us a couple of weeks ago having been found in the north of Namibia severely malnourished, dehydrated and with a broken arm, the vet there couldn't pin his arm so sent him to Windhoek where his arm and half his body were shaved for surgery and his arm was pinned, we got him from there.

As he is from a different part of the country when he arrived, despite being a chakma baboon like our others he is much darker - like a little gorilla.

"It will be a killer, and a chiller, and a thriller, when I get the gorilla in Manila."- Muhammad Ali

For those of you who don't wouldn't have the first clue on what to do with a baby baboon, here is a quick run down - bottles of milk, bits of healthy hard food, lots of cuddles, lots of play time, firm but gentle discipline when they chew things they shouldn't , climb on things they shouldn't, break things they shouldn't, try to eat of your plate etc etc and at night a good bath a nappy on back to front with a hole cut out or the tail and a good snuggle up in bed and a movie. Ok the movie isn't compulsory, but generally you both end up watching it and its nice chill out time. Oh and FYI the 'getting some sleep' part is largely reserved for the baboon especially when they are so small.

"There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I swear these little (gorgeous) monsters should be handed out to 13 year old boys and girls in need of educating about contraception. It would very quickly make them ensure they were protected and not likely to get pregnant any time soon!

Now bear in mind the last time I took a baby baboon over night was Elvis in 2011, he was bigger and didn't have a broken / pinned arm and somehow I end up with this little fella. Eeeek.

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places." - Ernest Hemingway

Convinced I was going to break him and under the impression that when he was brought to me someone was going to pick him up form me in an hour or so we soldiered on into the night together. At that stage he was so little and so damaged he looked so spaced out all the time

(he looked like he had had a two day bender in Shoreditch)

and needed huge amounts of love and care. It was also really hard to get him to drink from his bottle in order to get food into him.

Over the last week or so he has gained tons of energy his arm is sooooo much better and he has started to scamp around like a proper little baboon which is great. His personality is already starting to come out and its clear he's an independent little man who doesn't like to be told no - even when he tried to climb something high that he could fall off and hurt his arm again. He can also be fast asleep and take him near food and he is out of your jacket and screaming to be fed in the blink of an eye.

Here are some pics and vids of him when he first arrived - largely enjoying the TV and cuddling my face...