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Sunshine, the Madagascar lemur, settled at last
by The Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW)
Sunshine, a red-fronted brown lemur, was brought to the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) 10 years ago with a mutilated hand, no toes and half a tail. Staff assumed that she was smuggled into the country months before, but could not establish what exactly happened to her with regards to her 'missing' body parts.
A policeman found Sunshine semi-conscious on the sidewalk on Durban's Esplanade, and after some investigation, it was discovered that a couple residing 17 stories up, were the ones that smuggled Sunshine into South Africa. It could not be established whether or not Sunshine
actually "jumped" out the window of the apartment or whether she was thrown out.
Ten years later, and Sunshine is still living at CROW. Due to the fact that Sunshine is an exotic animal and on top of that, disabled, it was very difficult to reach a verdict on her future welfare. It was for this reason that Sunshine landed up being at CROW for 10 years.
Finally, in 2000, the staff decided to improve her living conditions, by perhaps purchase a
mate for Sunshine. A company by the name of F.F.S. Refiners (Pty) Ltd in Sea View, Durban, sponsored CROW with R5000-00, intending for this amount to go towards Sunshine's mate, or Sunshine's new enclosure.
Unfortunately, CROW does not have a zoo licence because it's policy is to rehabilitate wildlife and place it back into its natural environment - and not to keep animals for long periods of time unnecessarily. But because Sunshine's case was so unique (and there was no way out), CROW appealed to KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (KZN Wildlife), asking them if it was at all possible for CROW to keep Sunshine as a "permanent" resident.
This idea was turned down immediately, the main reasonbeing that Crow did not
have a zoo licence. This is where the hard work started. Many hours were spent on the Internet, trying to locate a suitable home in the whole of the world for a red-fronted brown Lemur. Places like the island of Jersey, Madagascar, Monkeyland in Cape Town, etc. were all considered. Due to the fact that Sunshine had been here for so long, the public all familiarised with her, and were willing to sign a petition to be submitted to KZN Wildlife, appealing for Sunshine to stay at CROW, where she is happy.
After a couple of months of serious debate, KZN Wildlife finally agreed that it would be in the best interest of the animal to be housed at CROW permanently. The staff have already made arrangements for a new enclosure, and
Sunshine's future looks bright!
Come and see Sunshine for yourself on CROW's Open Day, which is the last Sunday of each month starting at 10:30.
Issued via WILDAFRICA.NET.
BACK TO BUDDING SCIENCE
For further information:
Vanessa Massyn
Public Relations Officer
The Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW)
Durban
Tel: +27 31 462-1127
Fax: +27 31 462-9700
crow@iafrica.com
www.epages.net/crow
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