Educational Rescue Animals: Jopie
Jopie the brown Capuchin looks the other way as the whole classroom is in awe over how Bob feeds. Jopie is our last education animal to join forces in wildlife education. He came to the island 20 years ago.
Ironically when @Vet Doest was working in conservation at that time in Peru/Brazil and Bolivia. Helping in research and education on how to help wildlife conservation in combination with ecotourism. At that time Dr. Doest would give lessons to both tourists, as local children and their parents. The focus then was what one individual can do to make the planet a better world. That focus is still there. Children have strong sense of what is fair and what is not. So after hearing what ordeal smuggled baby animals go through, they will most definitely never think about getting a wild caught animal.
Jopie is 20 yrs and so imprinted on humans he would not stand a chance back in the wild. His owners had to leave the island, and despite his legalized status, Jopie was not allowed in the country they were moving too. And I agree. Ironically, I am a big opposer of monkeys in captivity.
If you read this and live in a country where people still keep monkeys. Please realize they are not ment to be as pets , like so many other animals. Realize that they are not mini human beings. Realize that they have very specific needs and a certain way of communication. I have lived in the jungle for two years, observing and being observed by his kind.
He is okay now, living in my sanctuary. And at least with him at hand, I can indeed shock children with the truth behind wildlife trade and the horrors for the animals involved. He now serves a purpose in education .A glimpse or an encounter with animals like Jopie or Bob can spark an individual to do better than his or her (grand)parents. Please don’t wish for a monkey as a pet. You don’t know what you’re asking for. If you do, you either don’t know what kind of hell you put them through or you choose to ignore it. We can all do better than that.
