PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - It is difficult being a party animal under the lockdown conditions, but the "residents" of a primate sanctuary on the outskirts of Plettenberg Bay did not let it dampen their party spirit.
Along with essential staff, the primates celebrated the opening of the sanctuary's doors precisely two years and two decades ago on Monday with great fanfare.
Despite the facility not being open to the public during this time, staff ensured that all the aspects of the party and monkey business were in place, or at least the most important ones – singing and a birthday "cake". In this case the birthday treat was a fruitcake, literally – a big cake-shaped pile of fresh fruit. "Even though we could not do anything special this year, we still wanted to remember this special day," Monkeyland's Lara Mostert said.
South Africa's first free-roaming multispecies primate sanctuary, it forms part of the SA Animal Sanctuary Alliance which includes bird and big-cat sanctuaries nearby.
It was the first sanctuary in the fold and was started by locals Tony Blignaut and Mostert on 6 April 1998. The two were motivated to start a monkey sanctuary as both of them did not like seeing monkeys in cages.
While working as an overland tour guide, Blignaut saw the impact of humans on nature firsthand including primates being caught for the pet and pelt trades, laboratories, for display in zoological gardens, and as a source of food.
A few decades later they found the "perfect property" for their dream of creating a safe haven for these animals – in the Crags just outside Plett.
And today the sanctuary is home to more than 700 primates, from capuchin monkeys, gibbons and lemurs to squirrel monkeys, langur and howler monkeys.
And all the monkeys live in an environment as natural as possible with no human contact. The sanctuary has a very strict no-touch policy.
The alliance has grown over the years and last year stretched beyond the Bitou borders when it opened another monkey sanctuary near Ballito in KwaZulu-Natal.
'We bring you the latest Plettenberg Bay, Garden Route news'
