The Monkey Sanctuary
We spent the greater part of today at a monkey sactuary a few miles from my parents home. It's quite expensive to visit, but when you listen to the volunteers and keepers, you wonder how much more you can give them.
Without exception, the monkeys at the sanctuary have been rescued – either from streets around Europe, or from private owners (that should never have “owned” a monkey in the first place). Each of their stories are pretty horrific, and the damage done to them mentally is often extreme. We listened for several hours to the stories about their past, and the progress each monkey is making – it was hugely inspiring.
While listening to one of the keepers, a female monkey made her way to the front of an enclosure opposite us, taking up position directly opposite our youngest daughter. The keeper noticed (they are always watching their various behavioural cues), and pointed her out to our daughter – that she in particular likes people, and particular little blonde girls wearing pink. They are not entirely sure why, but it obviously links to something from her past. She sat opposite our daughter for a minute or two, and made a real connection – raising their eyebrows at each other, and doing basic signing with their hands. The keeper told our daughter what to do, and the monkey responded – the entire crowd were spellbound as a strange conversation seemed to happen.
Something we didn't tell the keeper is that our youngest daughter has all manner of educational delays – that she has always connected with animals easily, and often feels emotions more keenly than her peers. While the encounter with the monkey went on, I found myself wondering if there might be anything going on beyond the obvious. Perhaps the difference between her and the other children present was that she sat quietly, didn't move, and actually listened – didn't smile, didn't bare her teeth, and didn't open her mouth (all massive behavioural cues to the monkeys).