Deiriai the Swamp Monkey
Posted at 10:42 am May 21, 2008 by Yvette KempIt’s been what you call “slow with spurts of busy” at the San Diego Zoo’s hospital lately. Not many patients, I am happy to say. But definitely some very busy moments!
A patient we have had for several weeks now is a cute young Allen’s swamp monkey named Deiriai (”D” for short). Unfortunately, she came to us with a broken upper left arm and several open lacerations due to an altercation with one of the males in her group. The afternoon she arrived we were all very concerned for her, but incredibly she has done amazingly well. I’m sure it has a lot to do with the great medical care she received, and her feisty spirit.
To help Deiriai’s arm heal, a pin was placed inside her humerus. She also received several stitches under her jaw bone. To keep the arm from moving around, the vets made Deiriai a little vet wrap vest; this kept her arm immobile, giving it a better chance to heal. Her left arm was wrapped against her body as well, to prevent further arm movement. Then little D was placed in a small pen so she wouldn’t run around too much. Every week the vets removed the vest, X-rayed her arm, performed a little physical therapy, then re-wrapped her.
From day one, Deiriai has been as active as a little monkey can be using only one arm. She doesn’t miss a meal for anything and makes sure to eat her cooked yam first. Because she is such a good eater, medicating has not been a problem; a few little pieces of fruit with medicine and she’s good to go!
Deiriai has now graduated to a larger pen. The pin has been removed, the vest is gone, and the arm is looking good. As part of her physical therapy, the hospital keepers are trying to get her to use her left arm more. How, you may ask? It turns out little D likes raisins…a lot! So we hold out the raisins a little distance from her so she has to reach out for them. When she tries to get them with the right hand, we just move so that she has to hold on with her right and reach with her left. It’s been working so far.
And while Deiriai has been at the hospital, we’ve been sure to provide her with a lot of enrichment: tree branches with leaves and browse so she can either eat or hide in the leaves, a radio playing music, stuffed animals for furry companionship, and a pool for dipping. We even place some treats in the pool so she can forage for them. And of course, everyone likes to spend quality time with her.
Deiriai still has some time to spend with us at the hospital, but once she is released, she’ll be going with her mom and a few friends to a new exhibit. That’s when the real physical therapy will begin.
Meanwhile, we’ll be sure to provide little D with all the help she needs to heal.
Yvette Kemp is a senior hospital keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
Read Yvette’s previous blog, Manchurian Brown Bear is Back!…
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May 21st, 2008 at 11:30 am
Thanks for the story about Deiriai, Yvette. You mention her mom. Is that Bunzai by any chance? We haven’t heard any updates on Bunzai or Kinah lately. Please tell us what is new with them.
Moderator’s note: Murrie is Deiriai’s mother. Kinah is back with Bunzi for now.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:14 pm
What a happy outcome (so far at least). The care and love you all show your patients is wonderful. It makes me wish you could take human patients too — at least zoo members :>). We’ll all be looking forward to seeing Deiriai when she returns to her family. Thank you for keeping us all informed.
May 21st, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I remember reading about Murrie and that she only has one arm. She was amazing when she had her first baby. Is this her second, or has she had more?
Has Marbelina had any more babies since Kinah? Since I am from Richmond, I am curious since I read that she is from Richmond Metro Zoo, and that she too was missing a right rear leg due to injury.
You mentioned that ” Kinah is back with Bunzi for now.” Were they separated for some reason? I don’t recall reading anymore about either of them since the story about the birth of Bunzi’s baby girl and that Kinah had a little ” sister.” Please do an update for us as we all hung on each installment to hear how little Kinah was growing and learning to be a part of her troop. How is her relationship with ” Grandma Dixie?” How many offspring has Toad had, and by what mothers? As I recall his group was just put together last year when Kinah joined them and so it would be great to have an update. The last report I recall reading is from November, 2007, when we where awaiting word of Mei Sheng’s safe arrival in Wolong. That seems like an eternity ago now, so much has happened since then in both SDZ, WAP, and Wolong and Bifengxia.
Thanks for keeping us posted on all our new and ” old” animal friends. I feel like they are all distant cousins that I don’t get to visit very often.
Moderator’s note: We’ll ask one of the swamp monkeys’ keepers for a new blog to keep us all up to date on happenings at the Zoo’s Ituri Forest.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Thank you for the post.
Where is the new exhibit that ” D” will go to? I’ve been told there’s a swamp monkey exhibit by the koalas but I can’t find it. I also haven’t seen the one armed monkey in Ituri Forest lately. Has she been moved somewhere else?