DOUROUCOULIS
Sangoma, Obelix, Getafix, Asterix and Nianga

There are five douroucoulis (also called night or owl monkeys) living at Monkeyland. These curious little nocturnal primates naturally occur in South America, but they are bred in captivity and also stolen from the wild to satisfy the lucrative exotic pet trade. The douroucouli parents at Monkeyland, Sangoma and Nianga, came from a South African pet store where they were kept in terrible circumstances. They had only approximately 2m2 of cage space, with a mesh floor and only one stable pole to sit on. Although they are nocturnal animals, neon light flooded their small cage all day long.

Unfortunately, the requirements for keeping exotic animals are hardly in the animals’ favour and rarely enforced. Since there is little legal protection, confiscating such suffering animals is usually out of the question.

Monkeyland does not condone the pet trade and never sells any primates from the sanctuary. However, there are exceptional cases in which we felt so sorry for captive primates that TAMHF bought them (at an extremely reduced price due to comprehensive criticism of their living circumstances) to offer them a better life.

We wish that even such a minor contribution to the pet trade could be avoided by making it illegal in the first place, but still feel compelled to act, since Monkeyland is in a perfect position to provide unhappy primates with healthier and more natural surroundings. Primates do not make good pets and often suffer severe psychological and health problems due to being wrongly raised by humans. Ideally, we should be able to confiscate them and offer them a life in the trees with a balanced diet, exercise and companions of the same species.

Providing the douroucoulis with freedom proved to be more difficult than most primates that arrive at Monkeyland. Initially, the night monkeys were released into the 12ha forest, where it was difficult for us to monitor their progress due to their nocturnal habits. When the first-born infant was badly injured, we decided to move the douroucoulis to the adjoining Birds of Eden Sanctuary, which is approximately one fifth of the size of Monkeyland.
The owl monkeys adapted very well to the bird sanctuary and started to produce behaviours of natural, free-roaming douroucoulis, such as contact calling to find the rest of the family. However, their nocturnal habits were distressing to the birds. Therefore, the night monkeys are now temporarily living in a large cage.

We have considered releasing into Monkeyland again, but would much rather allow them to live freely and without stress in the Special Monkey Home in which we could more easily monitor
their wellbeing.