MEET OUR YOUNG YELLOW BABOONS

Dax

Jade, Dax and Lyson

Many of the young animals that arrive at our wildlife sanctuary have been caught up in the illegal pet trade here in Malawi. Separated from their mothers as babies, they lose out on developing key skills and can find it difficult – and in some cases impossible – to survive alone in the wild. Jade, Dax and Lyson, our yellow baboons, were all kept as pets and arrived at our centre when they were relatively young. Housed together for comfort and friendship, they bonded quickly, but it took much longer for them to re-socialise with our larger group of yellow baboons – also known as a troop. Socialising is an important part of rehabilitation, particularly in monkeys, as they have complex social structures and hierarchies within their groups.

Plucky Jade was accepted by the troop first and was able to be released into our outside enclosure with them much sooner than Dax and Lyson. However, we were really pleased to find that these two were finally able to follow her outside last week. The three were immensely happy to see one another again and started playing the minute they found each other! They have loads of enthusiasm and are very keen to explore, and can be seen at the sanctuary leaping from tree to tree, despite having only just learned how to climb.

If you’d like to help us care for our orphan yellow baboons and get involved in other activities such as animal husbandry, vet clinic support and observations, please click here to read more about our volunteer programme, or email lilongwewildlife@gmail.com