Baby monkey dies in Laguna de Apoyo I

By Stephan Beekhuis

Baby monkey dies after falling out of tree

LAGUNA DE APOYO – On Wednesday the 23rd of February around eleven o’clock employees of the Estación Biólogica Fundeci/Gaia found a baby howler-monkey that fell 70 feet from a tree in Laguna de Apoyo. The rescue was too late; an hour later it died.                                                         

                                                                                                           A volunteer of the  biologic research-centre, Troels Hummelgren (23), discovered the young male monkey lying on the ground. “I saw that he was still breathing so I knew he was still alive. Its family was howling in the trees above me where the baby monkey fell. I decided to let the family take care of him.” Hummelgren went back to the station  to inform the Director, Dr. Jeffrey Mc Crary,  of the situation.

A half hour after the discovery, Hummelgren returned to monitor the situation with Fundeci/Gaia employee Elmer Nicaragua. In the time they had been gone, the young creature’s family had put him back in the tree, where it was suffering helpless. “After a conversation with Dr. McCrary we decided to remove the young monkey from the tree”, said Hummelgren. Acting as quickly as they could, Nicaragua climbed on Hummelgren’s shoulders. “When he picked up the baby, the family began howling in apparent frustration, but only for a few moments.” 

The monkey was brought back to the station, where it died of internal injuries shortly after.

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