MONIQUE (1/12): We had a passing here the day before yesterday. Monique, one of the girl vervets (monkey) passed away. It was like a child dying, and it was horrible. Two staff members refused to remove her little body from her habitat. They, and I too are devastated. I entered the enclosure, and I wrapped her lifeless little body in a beautiful blanket. I took her to the veterinarian to have a necropsy performed. The result of the necropsy is acute liver failure. Monique is still at the veterinary clinic, but I plan to get her tomorrow, so we can have a burial here at the EARS cemetery. This is the first primate to have died at EARS. I am saddened beyond words. Monique was confiscated from an unlicensed person, and placed here by FFWCC. Of course I feel as if I failed her, even though she showed no signs of distress prior to her passing. All the days leading up to her death, she ate well, and she seemed in good spirits. I have no idea as to her age, however I know for sure she was very old. I suppose it was her time to go. (No Photo Available)
SIERRA was, without doubt, among the most memorable big cat to have found a home at EARS. She was loving, playful, and so very needy of a permanent home. Sierra arrived at the sanctuary in December, 2000, along with her two brothers Saber and Sebastian. They were only three months old at the time of their arrival. The three of them were introduced to Zhiva, a tiger who was approximately their same age. Sierra, Saber, Sebastian and Zhiva lived peacefully together in their habitat which encompasses one acre, for the next two years. As the foursome neared sexual maturity, the two girls Sierra and Zhiva were moved together into a magnificent habitat where they lived in harmony for the next six years. Sadly Sierra developed an incurable cancer which took her from us. She now rests peacefully in the EARS' cemetery. Sierra will forever remain in our hearts.
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