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News for the month of August 2002

The Sanctuary has a Great Grandchild

August was another exciting month for us here at the Sanctuary. As stated in some of the other Chronicles, Tiger Homes Wildlife Sanctuary houses other species of rare and highly interesting wildlife not seen on camera (YET)! One of these animals is called a "Bush baby" or Galago. Bush babies are Prosimian primates just like the lemurs from Madagascar but instead come from the mainland of Africa. As with the lemurs, there are many separate species of Galago. The Sanctuary houses the second largest species of Bush baby called Galago garnettii.

These adorable creatures are one of my all time favorites. Adult males average about 1500 grams and females about 1200. They are varying shades of brown with large swiveling ears and big bright yellow amber eyes. Bush babies are also nocturnal (active at night) with an incredible sense of hearing and night vision. The hearing on these animals is so phenomenal that they can actually hear the footsteps of a cricket walking on the forest floor from over 15 feet away. Once spotted, the insect is immediately pounced upon and eaten. Bush babies are fantastic hunters preying on a wide assortment of food items including insects, lizards, snakes, birds, and small rodents. They also highly enjoy fruits, flowers, veggies and even bird eggs. Some of the smaller species of Galago have a special talent of gouging canals into the bark of certain trees. This causes the tree to seep sap. The small primates will visit these spots located all over the forest to enjoy the oozing sap repeatedly. One thing in common with all the different species of Bush baby is their absolute love for sweets. Sometimes I think they would actually sell their sole for a teaspoon of honey.

As mentioned above, Bush babies are nocturnal creatures. As a result they have evolved with great vision and hearing to help them locate food items and to avoid dangers at night. Another interesting fact about the Galago is that canopy trails and territorial boundaries are marked with urine. Now I am sure most of you are familiar with dogs and cats marking out their territories by either peeing on things or spraying them. The Bush baby has developed a technique called urine washing. What this basically means is that periodically the animal stops running around and pees on its hands and feet. Now, everywhere the animal travels is marked (identifying individuals, sexual readiness, trails or canopy highways & territory). This also serves another function as well. By urinating on his hands and feet, the Galago's grip becomes sticky affording better traction while make their dare devil leaps high in the canopy top. Scientist that study these animals in the wild often carry with them a Black Light. The urine markings will glow under the ultraviolet light allowing the scientist to study an assortment of behaviors such as territory size, group dynamics and distance traveled in a night. I could literally go on and on about these guys. I love them so much, but I want to get to the subject of this chronicle.

As the title suggests, August marked the birth of our very first Grandchild or third generation of Galago. Currently we house 2:2:1 individuals (2 males, 2 females and 1 juvenile), Murry, Samantha, Zakaria, Bengie, and Jewel. While giving everybody their early morning treats, I noticed Zak (Zakaria our first grand kid) was nursing a newly born infant. I was so excited to see that she was taking such good care of it. Many times in nature first time mothers abandon their infants. This is especially true with Prosimian primates. Zak was being extremely attentive and caring. Being that this was her first infant I wanted to get a birth weight. I do this so I can have a reference weight to go by. Every day for the first month the baby is weighed and given back to the mother. This way I can insure that Zak is producing milk and the baby is consistantly gaining weight. The entire procedure takes about two minutes while Zak chows down a peanut or two. For those of you who are curious, the baby weighed 48 grams and measured just over two inches not including its tail. The baby is doing great with an average daily weight gain of 5 to 10 grams a day.

We hope to have cameras set up down the road in their large habitat for our viewers to enjoy. Being nocturnal we will have to devise an infrared camera system so we can observe them in total darkness. In the meantime, keep watching and learning. Remember, the more you learn about the diversity of wildlife, the more you will want to cherish and protect it!

Remember, there are many ways to help the cause. Here are a few.

1) Tell everyone you know about the website. By increasing the number of visitors, we increase the awareness of the danger these wonderful creatures face.
2) If you have a website, link to us - http://www.tigerhomes.org/
3) Submit our site http://www.tigerhomes.org/ to any webcam sites you may visit.
4) Make a donation to the sanctuary. There is an area on the gift shop for those who want to contribute.
5) Purchase items from the gift shop. They make great gifts and are for a worthy cause.
6) Adopt a pet. It's a great way to virtually own one of the sanctuary animals.

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Remember, our main mission is to spread an interest in saving wild animals and wild places but we can't do it alone.

Story by: Jason and David