Me and my monkey....

Back to the zoo this morning, armed with eggs, sunflower seeds, bananas and apples for the animals. Progress is being made slowly, the two Blackfaced monkeys are now together in one cage. A bigger cage is being constructed, so they can at least climb high and get away from the children, as there is so much rubbish in their cages. My monkey is still on his own. He has a cage waiting for him, a little closer to the other two and in the shade. I hope they weld 2 cages together so he can escape being poked and prodded.

He loved the sunflower seeds we took for him. Straight away, his slender fingers went into the bag as he took them out one by one...then faster, grabbing handfuls and putting them on the floor of his cage. He looked me in the eye and said in Monkey Talk 'Thanks' He is talking to me I said to Kim and Kris as they watched. I became a bit overwhelmed by his eyes, the way he looked at me, how he was connecting with me and how he began to stroke my face, run his hands over my mouth and look at me as though I was just another monkey. Being a social creature, he began to groom me and searched through my hair, little noises coming from his mouth all the while.

He then placed his hand on mine....more tears!

I so want to help him and we will. I hope that he is happier for his visit and hopefully in his new cage by the end of the day. ACE continues to liaise with the manager and so we hope to improve all the animals lives there.

Thanks Kris Huybrechts for these photos.