Eli the howler monkey was nearly blind

Surgery restores monkey's vision

April 28th, 2008 @ 4:47pm

A blind monkey at Hogle Zoo that was led around his cage and to and from his food by his mother can see again!

Eli, a Howler monkey, has not been on exhibit today. He's resting comfortably in private quarters while his eyes recover from surgery.

Holly Braithwaite, spokeswoman for Hogle Zoo, said, "Eli, for the most part, was completely blind. He did have cataracts in both eyes, and he's about a 10-year-old monkey - almost 11, and it's been that way for some time since he was quite small.


Eli was brought to a specialty clinic in Cottonwood Heights. Eye Care for Animals deals only in eye disorders involving dogs and cats and now, monkeys.

He went under general anesthesia. Dr. Nicole MacLaren, who is trained in animal ophthalmology, performed the surgery, which is not unlike that which is done in humans. The only difference? Eli suffers from a vitamin D deficiency and had developed cataracts when he was about six to 12 months old. "This made the lens capsule very, very tough and hard to open up to get access to the cataract," MacLaren said.


Unlike a traditional replacement lens that is used when cataracts are removed from dogs and cats, Eli's required some special measurements; that's why human ophthalmologist Darcy Wolsey, from Salt Lake Eye Associates, was brought in. "This animal is more like a human eye, so I did some measurements to see what power of lens to put inside the eye."

Two hours later, Eli's cataracts were gone, replaced with two new acrylic lenses, and he was on his way back to the zoo.

MacLaren said, "Even though he's in a zoo, he's a wild animal, and so in a human who would be getting four or five different drops per day, we're only able to get them to medicate Eli once or twice a day."

Hogle Zoo is getting ready to introduce a new mate into Eli's enclosure. That's why they thought it was a good idea to give him his sight back again.

We call it 'Canaote Magic'.

Two weeks ago you saw Erik arrive (top center picture)and one week ago Chilin came to live with us. You saw them on their first day here. Chilin looked particularly sad. But here today, you see him having a great time on the ropes. No unhappy thoughts now, he is just too busy. Erik too has settled down and is enjoying Chilin's companionship. For a large part of the day they are together in the special enclosure we have made for them.
Early morning is the time I move Schatov,Lucio and Monito into Lucio's Garden. They all climb aboard my shoulders for the short journey to the garden. Erik makes the journey with them because he is already installed on my shoulder. He takes the opportunity to get to know the others. He snuggles against Schatov, who has taken a liking to him. I have a feeling that he will become Erik's big brother.
Chilin has a liking for the girls. His enclosure adjoins the garden of MonaLisa, Emma and Nancy. He spends a lot of time displaying his athletic abilities to them.
These two little boys have settled in quickly. It is magical to see the trasformation that takes place in our newcomers as they learn to live with creatures of their own kind.

Chilin is a great name for a monkey.

Chilin came to live with us yesterday, Saturday the 19th of April 2008. Yes you are right, he does look sad in this picture. It was taken within hours of arriving here and like any small child he was confused and maybe a little alarmed. He is probably six months old. During the evening and the following day, he settled down quickly. One thing we noticed immediately, he has a voracious appetite. He is the second young monkey to come to us in the last fortnight.
Very young monkeys take a great deal of extra care. They need 24 hour attention. You can't put them in an enclosure with other monkeys. There is no guarantee that they would not be attacked. Finding a group in which they will be compatible is a sensitive job and has to be undertaken with care. There is no question yet of allowing them to share with others as they are both still being fed with a bottle. The logistics of separating them at feeding time are just too complicated. We have prepared an enclosure for Chilin and Eric, where they can interact and play for short but monitored periods. For two days now they have used this facility with success. They are always pleased to be brought back into our house for more human company. The call on our services seems to be growing. We have news of another adult male who may be brought here next weekend. We have also been asked about accommodating two adult Capuchins. Lord have mercy, your servant is hard pressed.

About Schatov.

I want to try and describe to you some of the changes that I have seen in some of our children over a period of time. It was only when I embarked upon this task that I realized how difficult it was going to be.
Schatov, when he first arrived was very small. So small that we had to construct an enclosure with especially small wire, because he could easily wriggle through the standard fence wire. He shared with Emma who was also young and small but a little bigger than Schatov. At that time we thought that this was a marriage made in heaven. They seem genuinely fond of each other. Schatov developed a lump on his nose. In our picture you can still see where it was, if you look carefully. At first we thought it was a mosquito bite. We quickly realized that it was a swelling caused by a bad tooth. Schatov was whisked away to a dentist in Valencia who specialized in dentistry for small animals. There he had a successful operation to remove the bad tooth. We were fortunate to find a man of his skills.

All was not well in the relationship with Emma. Emma was growing very fast and no longer wanted Schatov. This actually turned into antagonism and finally we had to separate them. I will talk about Emma’s changing personality in another post.

Schatov is now over two years old. He has a loud voice and is big for his age. He leads the morning chorus and his deep booming voice acts like the drum major for the others, letting them know when to start and finish. As he has grown, his personality has developed. He is always cheerful and playful but never aggressive. He is especially communicative with his facial expressions. You know when he is not pleased by the way the corners of his mouth curve downward. When he is happy he makes the howler universal happy sound.

I have an interaction with him at least twice a day. Once in the morning when I take him to share the day with Moñeto and Lucio and then again in the evening when I bring him back to the house. For this transfer he sits comfortably in my arms. His early morning task is to lead the chorus. When that is complete he waits for me, gently swinging backwards and forwards in his hammock.
He is much loved by everyone, both monkey and human. His human family are from Caracas and they visit him often. You can understand why when you meet him, he is a real charmer.

A big happy birthday Maniña.

‘Well it is pause for thought isn’t it? I mean four years old. I am positively over the top. Like I am an old man. Yeah! Over the hill. Can you imagine that?’

He is hansom. He is the largest monkey we have at Canaote. He came to us 2 years ago from his family in Aragua. He was two years old when he came to us. He is still in their thoughts and we have frequent correspondence with them. The important thing is that they still care. He is charming and loved by us all, monkeys and humans alike. He is gentle. This afternoon he was introduced to little Erik who is only 3 months old. Erik responded to him and realized that he had found a friend. Some of the smaller monkeys were a little jealous at this first meeting but Maniña pushed them to one side and put his arm around Erik. They will meet again soon. In the meantime. A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANIÑA.
Our picture taken this evening is of course our birthday boy.

Maniña at home.

I suppose no morning’s photo shoot would be complete without pictures of Maniña. He really does pose for the camera. Having sat on my shoulder, (he is very heavy). Pulled my hair and given me a big smacker straight on the lips, he settled down to posing for these pictures. Maniña is the biggest of our male monkeys and he is the leader of the group with Eslabon, Tutti and Miss Billy.

Who blinks first?

I often compare the behavior of my gang to their brothers and sisters in the wild. When I see Moñito take a flying leap into the middle of a brightly colored hammock filled with plastic balls, throwing the balls everywhere in the enclosure. When he is closely followed by Lucio and then Schatov and the last of the balls scatters across the ground. I wonder what if any is the wild monkey equivalent. Well of course there is no direct similarity because monkeys in semi captivity learn a whole new group of skills. But just the same, play is practice for life situations. The competition of the game with hammock and balls is the important feature. Who jumps the furthest, who causes the most disruption or even the most noise. The facing off and the threatening calls are also part of this practice for life situations. Our picture shows Schatov on the right and Lucio on the left. They are playing ‘who blinks first’. This is a game that Howlers never tire of. They will yell at each other and even make a tentative poke but never actually get into conflict.

Erik or little by little.

Sunday was a busy day here at Cañaote. First Virginia came with her family. They started out from Caracas at four in the morning. They brought Erik with them. Erik is very young, and we don't have very much information about him. I am guessing that he is about 3 months old. You see him here in a photograph, clinging to the back of David's head. This is a very typical stance. Then later in the morning Graciela arrived with her family. They were visiting Lucio and the other children of course. The two groups got to know each other and shared their joy with the children. Lucio was in fine form, giving vivid displays of his gymnastics and Schatov kept pace with equal vigor. Colored balls were being fired in every direction. Moñito was at first overcome with all this action but soon got into the swing of things.

Graciela brought us a large metal cage. It has been beautifully and professionally made by a craftsman. This was transported all the way from Caracas in their second vehicle. We will use this as quarantine for children when they first arrive. The visitors toured around all the enclosures and the children were excited to meet them.

A local family joined the group, and it was a pleasure to introduce them to our monkeys. But, all too soon, it was time for everyone to return to Caracas.

Erik is quietly settling down. Naturally, he cries quite a lot but that is to be expected. He is difficult to feed and very choosy. He need a lot of special attention and that means 24 hours a day. Just like any baby he needs feeding every four hours. David has volunteered to be his mother during this period.