A Tale of 2 Nannies

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During my childhood days, I had a nanny who looked after me when my parents went to work. The same might have been the case with some of you growing up. In his book ‘On Writing’, Stephen King has wittily recollected his childhood memories of an awful nanny he had, however, for many of us, the word nanny oozes out a nostalgic and lovely image of a lady who had cared for and looked after us when we were still staining our diapers. The word is synonymous to our childhood memories. What if I tell you that even animals do babysitting? Don’t pop your eyes out of your head, yet. At PfA, we often rescue orphaned or displaced Baby Monkeys. Though we try our best to acclimatize them with their natural habitat, there are things that we cannot replace – like a mother’s love. We, fortunately, have some saviours who aid us in the cause. 
Remember Maurice? The wise and benevolent Bornean Orangutan from the Planet of the Apes trilogy? Well, we had our own Maurice at our centre. Elizabeth was an Indian Bonnet Macaque who was a victim of an acid attack that rendered her blind. Beaten, attacked and blinded, Elizabeth’s life vehemently shows how one can transform a life-threatening situation into a life-changing one. Though blinded, she fought her way back to restore her health in 3 months and was a bearer of hope at our centre. 
Not letting the blindness burden her, she started sharpening her other senses, and meanwhile, we received an orphaned Bonnet Macaque who was struggling without the care of a family or her mother. We introduced him to Elizabeth on an experimental basis, and lo and behold, they got along very well and were inseparable. That was just the beginning for her and it was like she had found her calling. Since then, Elizabeth has fostered close to 20 juvenile macaques at our centre.
Soon after, we rescued a macaque named Nanny who was in a condition similar to Elizabeth. A gruesome car accident rendered her blind, and she was very quiet and lonely when we received her. After a few months, we introduced her to Elizabeth and she wove her magic once again. Not only did she recover from her shock, but she also started helping Nanny to foster the young ones. 

Macaques like Nanny and Elizabeth become a part of PfA Wildlife Hospital’s Lifetime Care as their injuries don't let them survive in the wild. However, this did not stop them from providing motherly care and love to all the young orphaned monkeys that are rescued by us. 


Comments

  1. Suresh MenonJuly 14, 2020 at 2:40 PM

    A heart touching "Tale of two nannies". Could visualize the heinous crimes committed by evil done towards the innocent brethren species. Great gesture by PFA and good heart Humans who could take noble initiative to transfer the lives of the macaques. May God bless you and your lovely noble motives. Mother love can't be replaced but PFA has always empathising rescues which are unparallel.

    A well wisher
    Suresh Menon,
    Bangalore

    ReplyDelete

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