Pulled out of the jaws of death

A timely call from a citizen saved the life of a newborn baby macaque on the verge of death. Rescuers were unable to save the life of the macaque mother who had already lost too much blood during childbirth.

Late on January 3, rescuers at People for Animals (PfA) Hospital received a call from Krishna, a resident of Khajisonnanahalli.

A female macaque had given birth to a young and the newborn was weak. A group of residents gathered around the site when Krishna, also an employee of a vegetable store, contacted PfA and insisted that they arrive urgently. The rescue team rushed to the scene. Animal rescuers say Krishna’s timely call was the only reason the macaque was alive now. Before rescuers arrived, macaques from a nearby factory building noticed the injured mother and baby and fed them milk, fruit and water. Krishna and his colleagues also placed the monkeys in a crate.

When the team arrived, the mother was bleeding and the baby was enveloped in the placenta, Col. Dr Nawaz said Shariff, general manager and Chief Veterinarian at PFA Hospital. “The placenta had already blocked the baby’s passage of air and she was frozen to death. The team covered them both in warm clothes and homeopathic medicines were administered to reduce stress. The female macaque was hypothermic and her blood pressure was low. He was hardly responding to treatment. The baby and mother were placed in incubators. But, despite the best efforts of the vet team, the mother died at 1 a.m. due to a ruptured uterus.

The baby started to show signs of recovery and was fed goat’s milk and egg yolk. The team named the baby Saanvi and will care for her for the next eight months until she is released into the forest.

Currently, Saanvi is monitored 24/7 by rehabilitators who take note of his vital signs, Dr Shariff said. “She is fed goat’s milk every two hours and it will soon be increased to every three hours. The newborn will be transferred to a cage, mostly of orphan monkeys, after three months. In addition, he will be under the supervision of the hospital macaque adoptive mother. After having been raised in a natural environment, with the help of forestry department, it will be released back into the wild.