MONKEY Haven in Newport has announced the death of a beloved Barbary macaque.
Nanushka was once a victim of the illegal pet trade, found at a pet shop with no legal paperwork and seized by the haven's partners, Stichting AAP.
It was claimed she was brought at a market and dumped in the pet shop, but the haven said her true story and previous traumas will never truly be known.
The AAP successfully integrated Nanushka into a troop of rescued Barbarys, all from similar backgrounds, before being transferred to the sanctuary in 2014.
However, due to her previous ordeal, she had developed unnatural compulsive behaviours including foot-biting and obsessive grooming, which are common behaviours of rescued macaques who have been victim to isolation.
Through a rehabilitation plan, the behaviours were kept under control, but Nanushka suffered a minor injury to her foot earlier in the year which had caused her to over-groom the wound, making it progressively worse and unable to heal.
Despite the keepers best efforts at distracting and training Nanushka, and all options explored and exhausted, they had to make the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye.
A spokesperson said: "It has been a really sad few days for our sanctuary and its animal carers.
"None of them could have done anymore to make Nanushka feel safe and loved."
The carers all paid tribute in their own words, on the Monkey Haven Facebook page.
A spokesperson said: "Here at Monkey Haven, our main aim is to rescue and rehabilitate primates, most commonly from the illegal pet trade.
"We make it our priority to ensure all of our animals live a happy and enriched life, but unfortunately in some cases the previous mental trauma can have a lasting impact.
"By sharing Nanushka’s story, we hope it will help us in our mission to educate people about the negative impact of keeping primates as pets, such as the damaging implications this can have on their mental health and wellbeing.
"We also hope Nanushka’s story helps highlight the importance of the Governments Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill which aims to introduce a ban on keeping primates as pets."
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