A. little surprise at the North Beach

Press, 27 December 1980, Page 1

A. little surprise at the North Beach

One of the smallest surprises fo" visitors to the North Beach zoo. these days is to be found in a bag slung round', the waist of one of the staff — a tiny crab-eating Macaeque monkey from 1 Indonesia. “Lisa,” who was abandoned. by. her natural mother one wet' cold day five months . ago, has grown into a popular attraction because’ of the round-the-cloCk ’. care of Mrs Patricia Williams and a Christchurch veterinarian, Mr D. Marshall. “She’s a real little darling,” said Mrs Williams. She said that it was her knowledge of rearing children, rather than her knowledge of animals, that had helped her most with Lisa. .

She said .that the monkey’s .mother had simply laid the baby monkey down and had ignored it. Mrs Williams had picked the little monkey up, taken it inside, adminis-

tered glucose and water, and had. applied vigorous massage.

“I then put a hot water bottle under her ant’ took her to Mr Marshall. By the time we got to the surgery, Lisa, who at the time fitted into the palm of my hand, was Crawling round the bottle, seemingly recovered from her ordeal,” Mrs Williams said. Lisa was fortunate in having had the professional help of a good veterinary surgeon, said Mrs Williams. . ’ Mr Marshall was “absolutely marvellous,” having made himself available at all hours, and his treatments had required him to do a lot of research, as the opportunity for local vets to treat a baby monkey was limited. “Lisa has had health problems, having been hand-reared, but she has responded to antibiotics,” Mrs Williams said. While Mrs Williams

carries out her chores at the zoo, Lisa can be found either in a small play pen or, as is most often the case, snuggling and sleeping in a bag round Mrs Williams’ waist.

These days she eats cereals, baby foods, peaches, apples and pears, and has lust taken herself off the bottle. In another two months Lisa will become more independent although she will still need mothering.

Lisa will not be put out with the five other Macacque monkeys. These particular animals : are slow-growing and do not mature until they are four years old. “We hope that the mother might have another baby and if she rejects it it can be raised to keep Lisa company. “If all else fails, Lisa will stay with me. She is no problem and is an adorable little thing,” Mrs Williams said..