An adult male vervet monkey in Sardinia needed to be rescued after it was discovered by a local resident to be covered in white paint.
The monkey was rescued from Sardinia Bay Golf Estate in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, May 12 by Joeleen Beyers, owner of environmental conservation organisation Monkey Matters, along with golf estate resident Michelle Hughes who had tipped them off about the monkey and other residents.
It took five workers at the 9th Avenue Vet two hours to wash the paint of the monkey while he was under sedation. According to Beyers, the paint was up to 5cm thick in some areas of the monkey’s body. The paint had hardened, impacting the monkey’s mobility and speed.
‘We didn’t think it was going to come off with soap and water and we were so worried that we would have to shave him,’ she told Herald Live.
Monkey Matters shared images of the monkey to their Facebook group, brandishing it an act of animal cruelty.
‘This is a photo of an adult male vervet monkey, that was cruelly painted in white paint by a resident in the Sardinia Bay Area, PE,’ they wrote on Facebook. ‘We went out to set the trap to catch this poor boy, so he could be treated. Luckily, after a day of waiting, he went in and was quickly brought to our vet at #9thavenuevet, where we washed and washed him until it all came off. It took two hours and 5 people to work as quick as possible under sedation.’
The monkey, who has been named Samson, seems to be doing well now. He has been released back into the area he was trapped.
‘Samson is doing very well and recovered from the ordeal he is back where he belongs,’ Monkey Matters wrote on their Facebook page.
According to Herald Live, a resident came forward on the MannMadeRadio Facebook page claiming ownership of the paint. The resident claims that it was an accident as the primate wondered into his storeroom and doused himself in the paint.
‘My storage window was open … I had painted the storeroom … an empty can was found the next day and I could not understand why the can was outside.
‘I saw a photo a few days later of what had happened [to the monkey]. No-one painted the poor animal,’ the man wrote.
Herald Live also reports that Beyers and van der Mescht are considering reporting it to the police as an act of animal cruelty.
Image: Facebook/Monkey Matters
