The Baboons Story
Who are we?
"We" are the Chacma Baboons at The Manger's Cape CROW rehabilitation centre for wild animals.
Most of us are orphans, left helpless because our mothers were killed, sadly by man. Some of us were injured and couldn't keep up with our troop.
Some were reared as pets until we got to big to be "manageable" in human care, some of us have histories known only to ourselves -- not all are nice stories, like being burned, beaten or starved, as sometimes happens in your human world.
But somehow, those of us that survived and made it to this centre, now have shelter, food, love and care to heal, and the help to make it back to our natural environment, empowered with new knowledge and wisdom from our human guardians.
How did this all begin?
June the 14th 2000, 8 a.m. Matthew, a six week old pink baby baboon, almost no hair, was orphaned an hour ago.
But a good Samaritan ensured he arrived on the doorsteps of Peter and Nola Frazer's home.
We baboons know it was love at first sight between Nola and her new baby Matthew, much to Peter's delight (for he had long had a passion for us ape family). And in that moment the Frazers made a commitment to the Baboons that was yet to unfold before them.
Just three days later Beth, a seven-month old orphan Chacma joined the Frazer household, where she instantly adopted Peter as her alpha male, Nola as surrogate mother and Matthew as her sibling and friend.
Cape CROW is established
Now that we had the Frazers in love with us baboons, we had to engineer a plan so that we could stay in their care.
We knew they would have to negotiate with their Nature Conservation authorities to keep us - and that's how the centre was established. In the area of the Little Karoo there are no places for injured wild animals to be taken to for rehabilitation. But, with the Frazers commitment, and the ensuing negotiations between themselves and conservation authorities, plans were soon underway, and the centre was established.
Much building of various sized cages took place, the conservation people are very satisfied, and we baboons and other animals are grateful and happy.
The project has seen several varieties of animals come in for care -- a number of small buck, a jackal buzzard, kestrel, blue cranes, herons, a number of spotted eagle owls, some barn owls, many tortoises, meerkat, bat-eared fox, vervet monkey, marmosets, and a caracal, besides us baboons.
Some have been able to be completely rehabilitated, some not, depending on injuries.
For those leaving physical bodies behind and returning to their Creator, the transition was made easier by the love, care and understanding of their human guardians. We baboons have lost several to the world beyond, but now are around 90 in number at The Manger's Cape CROW as at December 2008.
The baboon project is named
The Frazer's chose to call this project "The Joshua Project for Baboon Rehabilitation",
He showed such temerity in his decision to survive, and his recovery, aided by good nutrition, love, care and medicine, was nothing short of a miracle.
He is different to all his fellow baboons here in the centre. He has the ability to telepathically communicate with Peter. It is as if he and Peter reach baboon consciousness together, and talk, and the messages and stories received by Peter are being written down by Nola (another story maybe!).
He is the "wise man" of all the baboons, by his presence alone he commands, teaches, and guards all the others.
Interspecies communication
The Manger has many friends and visitors, and of course many want to see us baboons because we are so endearingly like you, our human cousins (after all we share something like 95% common DNA).
We are social animals, so we like company. We also learn a lot from you, appreciate the trust and respect you give us, and enjoy the interaction.
This interaction was emphasised when friend and international animal healer, Jann Weiss, recently began visiting the Manger. Jann has done energetic healing on Joshua and he can communicate with her like he can with Peter.
She has energetically supported the other baboons here, and is able to teach interspecies communication. We baboons are very happy about this as gradually more and more conservationists, Rangers and animal carers (here and elsewhere) are learning to do this -- how absolutely wonderful for all species to be able to communicate with, and understand, each other -- what a future to look forward to (the Doctor Doolittle story is surely true).
Together with Jann, Peter and Nola, and Joshua of course, are establishing a whole new level of communication and understanding of us baboons. Baboon psychology is being taken into account, and all decisions are being taken in harmony with baboon consciousness.
Can you imagine what this means to us?
We are not being rescued, we are being supported to heal from traumatic ordeals through understanding and communication, so that we can all be rehabilitated.
We will make it out there -- we need the planet and the world to know that through the education of humans, and through the release of trauma in animals by supporting us in our transformation from the "before condition" to the "after condition", you are giving us what we need, the opportunity of rehabilitation
Keeping the dream alive
So we, the Baboons at The Manger, with Joshua at our helm, are the patrons of this project. It is we who are requesting any financial assistance and funding from you, individuals, businesses, teaching institutions, international funding, whoever, and wherever, you are. Please visit How You Can Help!
Our project managers, Peter and Nola Frazer, have a three hundred and fifty hectare property, "Matthew's Paradise", which is to be included in the next stage of our rehabilitation. But this property needs fencing -- it will become a "fenced wild" area, where we will initially be released, under monitored conditions. Here we will adapt to a natural environment, learning to eat indigenous food, finding our own nooks and crannies to sleep in, and learning to live as baboons in a troop in the outside world. The fencing is a mammoth undertaking, costly and necessary (we might be tempted to run home to Nola and Peter,). So, to wean us from this, fencing is essential. Our appeal is for any contribution that you can make: Whatever you can give is truly appreciated and, through Joshua, we thank you all.
