Peace

peace
let it blow in your direction
let it touch you
melt you

and
mould you
Children of Parque Ecologico, Brazil

....please join us on Sunday, September 20, 2009

Peace Day - September 20, 2009 - Peace for All Primates

Summer 2009 has been very busy at the sanctuary. On August 15, we welcomed over 170 people to the farm to learn about our residents and the work we do. Thank you to everyone who came, and to all the great volunteers who helped out.

On September 20, 2009, we will be hosting Peace Day, along with the Jane Goodall Institute, Roots & Shoots groups, members of Free the Children, and other communities in a celebration of peace. The day will include inspirational speakers, workshops, nature activities, drumming, games, tours of the farm, vegetarian bbq, and readings. The afternoon will culminate in the making and flying of giant peace doves in the pastures - a hopeful symbol for peace! Reserve a seat on the bus from Toronto, leaving Yorkdale Subway Station at 10:00AM - roots_shoots@janegoodall.ca - suggested donation $5.00.

If you are on Facebook, please RSVP on the event: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118193674087

www.janegoodall.ca/PeaceDay2009.php and http://www.freethechildren.com/


See you then!

Rachelle

Open House 2009

Happy Tuesday! Finally we have a beautiful sunny day - the past weekend we had a number of determined baseball players in the rain, helping to raise money for the sanctuary. Thanks to Russ, Brittany, Connor, Donna and all those who participated. Special thanks to Larry for organizing this event for the third year in a row!

We are excitedly preparing for the Open House on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 from 12:00PM to 4:00PM - $5.00 per person/$15.00 for a group of four. Please visit our website for a downloadable .pdf flyer to share with friends and family. An event has also been created on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=135644594250&ref=nf

Highlights will include small group tours to "meet and greet" the monkeys. Prior to the tours, you will have an opportunity to see a presentation about the SBFPS residents - their backgrounds, likes/dislikes and how you can help make a difference in their lives.

Activities will include a jumping castle, games, making enrichment for the monkeys, a garden tour, nature safari, BBQ, jumble sale, bake sale, silent auction, and a great raffle - including a plasma screen tv!

The money raised through the event will be used to provide energy efficient heating for the barn in the winter months. All proceeds go to the care of the primates!

We are counting down the days to welcome you to our sanctuary community ....

Rachelle

Lexy's New Space

Happy Tuesday! We are happy to share news of the reno's to Lexy's enclosure. On a beautiful Sunday evening, she walked into a new space...literally and figuratively. Jenn, Sherri, Leonard, Paxton, Anne and Shelley built amazing structural enrichment, interesting nooks and crannies, planted trees, made a waterfall, and put their hearts into making a happy place for Lexy. We are so thankful to Dwight for his generosity in providing high quality, macaque-proof coloured plastic wood.

Inside Lexy was such a good girl, even though her access to the outside was blocked. She could hear the banging of construction, and commotion. At times she did pace excitedly, but was good company for me while I was in the kitchen getting supper ready. At one point she even made that little macaque "oooh" sound, asking for a bit of banana.

Outside the gang was working feverishly to get things ready - apparently Rome can be built in a day! Sherri so lovingly put the final touches in - treats in strategic places, nectarine pieces in the pool, toys and enrichment items.

Now, as you may know, Lexy is attached to her dolly - she loves the kind that has a cloth body and vinyl head, arms and legs. She can be so demonstrative in her love, that the dolly mostly is worse for the wear. At this point, only the dolly's head remains. So, the dolly head was placed in the small pine tree for her.

With bated breathe, the door was opened for Lexy....Jenn held her breath, as we all did... how would she react to the new house? After all this girl has been through, she deserves so much - this year she lost her best friend Yoshi, and we have seen changes in her - she is quieter and a bit more anxious. With tears in our eyes, we watched our brave, strong Lexy, coming out - albeit cautiously, looking all around - and the first thing she went to get was her dolly head. So calmly, she took the head and went to one side of the enclosure, sitting up high and checking things out. As you can see in the photos (courtesy of Anne), she was so calm, relaxed, and showed no signs of stress or anxiety....she loved the pool and sat on the edge, with dolly in hand, dipping its head in the water.

There was a contented, peaceful silence... (expect for Leonard calling out to Sammy to get out of the duck pond!) .. as we witnessed Lexy, exploring her new improved world - full of colour, love and hope.....

Bon Voyage - Our Beautiful Char

Every day we are thankful for the wonderful people who have come into our lives and those of the precious beings in our care. Charmaine is one of those people - a truly beautiful woman inside and out, who has no bounds to her loving and caring heart. An integral part of the team, she works tirelessly for all animals in need: monkeys, donkeys, dogs, cats, and great apes. Her boundless energy makes Sundays at the farm a joy.

Once again, she is off to volunteer at Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in the Malaysian Sabah District of North Borneo - a rehabilitation centre for orphaned orangutans. This is Char’s third time out there – where she daily cares for the young orangutan infants who have experienced deep loss – of their homes, mothers and families. We will miss her so, but we are so proud of her – our beautiful Char.

Yoshi

It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of our beloved Yoshi.

Yoshi, and his partner, Kayko (deceased 2006), both Japanese Macaques, were the first two primates who gave Sherri the vision for Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary. While little is known of their lives before the Sanctuary, we believe at one time they had been used in a laboratory due to the scarring on their arms and a tattoo on their legs; both are consistent with laboratory testing. They eventually made their way to Sherri and Leonard’s farm where they lived in peace for the past 10 years. Yoshi’s lasts days were spent surrounded by Sherri, Leonard, and the volunteers who worked tirelessly to keep him comfortable before he gently succumbed to old age. We all have been blessed by his presence in our lives and he is greatly missed by all who have met and loved him.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Happiness is sunshine

Hi everyone! We apologize that it has been awhile since we posted news to our community. With the warmer weather coming, there’s been a flurry of activity to have the enclosures ready – larger and with new structural enrichment. Mickey has her new, old home outside now. We picked up Mickey's cage (it is really like a marmoset condo) from Kimberly. Leonard built it back up outside, so she has indoor and outdoor access. Mickey loves to feel the wind in her hair - you can see it is sensory overload.

The past months have been filled with happiness and sadness, as precious Yoshi physically left us - but we know that he is with us in spirit. We will dedicate an upcoming blog to his memory, so that you can all know his story and what he has meant to the people whose lives he was a part of...

Nan and Chelsea continue to blossom. It is such a thrill for me to see them every weekend and learn their likes and dislikes...for instance, the other day I was cleaning with Sherri, and touched one of Chelsea's many rubber boots. I picked this particular one up and said with a scrunched up nose - "this one looks a bit yucky"...well, Miss Chelsea gave me the baboon raised eyebrow look - which gave me paused and I wondered what had I done...do-uh..I had caused offensive by commenting on the state of her boot! Chelsea and Nan also have a new outdoor area, with ramps that make it easy for sight-impaired Nan to navigate. As Sherri says, Nan sits quietly and takes it all in…

With the nice weather, we have been taking fresh, young shoots off of the big trees, and putting them in the enclosures. The lemurs love to munch on the leaves – they get so excited. We also dig up clumps of grasses and daisies, which Pea and Pierre love.

Julian has come a long, long way. When he first arrived, he was so traumatized, and it manifested itself in frequent self-mutilating behaviours, such as biting and tearing out his hair. We could not even look at him without causing him anxiety - he was our little ghost - as he did not want to be seen. It was a difficult winter, and at times we really wondered if we were doing the right thing and if he could recover from his human-inflicted emotional scars.

Now, as I drive up on Saturdays, and see Julian, or Jules as we call him...he is outside, sitting on the perch, in the sun, with Maggie, one of the dogs, sitting near him (outside the enclosure). He is talking with Lexy and watching Pierre, his baboon neighbour. Just hanging out, watching the world go by - you would not think it is the same macaque. Julian has learnt that he is safe, and that no one will hurt him. He knows we are here for him and together we will heal. A key turning point was a few weeks ago. Shelley and Paxton had made enrichment items for everyone – including fresh cut branches of trees hanging from the mesh overhead along with plastic bottles, filled with lots of green grass and yummy treats. Pierre just ripped his bottle down and started sussing out what was inside. Julian could not seem to get a hold of his, and got frustrated. His first reaction, of stress, what to bite himself, which he started to do. However, he saw the tree branch in his area, paused, and then starting biting that. After a second or two, you could see him getting himself together and tried again for the bottle, which he got. Kim and I were watching this and it was huge to see that he was able to redirect his frustration and anxiety away from himself. Well done Julian!

We are thankful to all the committed volunteers who daily make a difference in the lives of the residents. Amongst them, is the very talented Ann Walsh, one of our regular Sunday volunteers. Her photos of the folks are magical - she really captures their essence and personalities.

Summer 2009 will be a super busy one, with lots of events and outreach happening. Please mark your calendars for August 15th - for our second annual Open House...more details to follow.

Thanks for reading and caring,

Rachelle