Hey, Hey we're the monkeys
AS THE midday sun filters through the trees of the Trentham Estate, the delicate raindrops look like tiny fairy lights dancing merrily in the wind.
The ground is muddy and slippery and the climb up to the clearing is a simple five minute walk. Occasionally, the sound of a branch moving or leaves rustling causes you to glance upwards, but is not until we come to the top of the incline that we see such a wonderful sight to behold a small group of Barbary macaque monkeys who greet us with inquisitive, yet friendly, glances.
Trentham Monkey Forest, just outside Stoke on Trent, is home to 170 Barbary macaque monkeys and is managed by wonderful husband and wife team, Sophie and Guillaume de Turckheim, who are showing us around the forest despite it being closed to the general public at this time of year.
It is feeding time and, as Sophie and Guillaume, tell us about the wonderful setting, the monkeys there are two groups of 70 living in the 60-acre forest begin to surround us, their bright and beautiful eyes twinkling in the sunlight as they forage for the food and reach for the soft fruits being thrown to them.
Their movements are almost human-like and their social interaction with each other fascinating to watch as we observe them in an environment in which they thrive.
Trentham Monkey Forest, which opened four-and-a-half years ago, is one of four in the world opened by Guillaume's father. The first was opened in the family's native France in 1969, followed by another in France and a third in Germany. Trentham is a wonderful forest which allows the public to walk along a path as it winds its way through the monkeys' habitat.
Visitors can watch the monkeys as they interact with one another in an environment that is safe and educationally fascinating. The move to Trentham took ten years to come to fruition from the initial negotiating stage with the former owners, St Modwen's Developments, to the opening in 2005 for the de Turckheims.
Today, not only is the Staffordshire monkey forest a huge visitor attraction, but more importantly it also provides primatologists,
students and psychologists with a centre where they can study and research the Barbary macaque monkeys whose status was recently lowered to endangered.
"In the 1960s, my father-in-law and his friend had a fabulous and crazy idea to open a monkey forest in France," says Sophie, as we drink strong, black coffee in the kitchen of her gorgeous home Ñ a wonderful estate gatehouse sitting proudly at the entrance to the Monkey Forest.
"The plan worked and he opened in 1969, near to Strasbourg. He then opened another one on France in 1974 and another in Germany in 1978.
"The one here took ten years from start to finish and, in 2004, just a year before it opened, my father-in-law asked Guillaume who has a degree in wildlife management and I to move to England to oversee the project.
"As you can imagine, it was a big decision to make. I had a job for life for the Council of Europe as an interpreter and Guilluame was already well established working for his father at the other parks."
Although it was a major decision for the young couple to make, they decided to make a go of it and arrived in Staffordshire in early 2005. They haven't looked back since.
Although it is very hard and very demanding work all year round, Sophie and Guilluame have a dedicated team of staff, who have created a wonderful environment that is strongly committed to the protection of the species.
"One of the aims of the parks," says Guillaume, "is to raise the public's awareness about the monkeys by letting people observe them here as they would live in the wild.
We regularly get schoolchildren at the forest, so we can provide them with the information they need, as well as psychology students who study the social interaction of the monkeys."
Barbary macaques are native to the Atlas mountains of Algeria and Morocco and are a very gregarious species, forming mixed groups of females and males. Unlike other macaques, the males participate in rearing the young and alot of time is spent grooming and playing with the youngsters.
"It's fascinating to watch the social structure of the monkeys here," says Sophie, who has, in the last four years not only studied the Barbary macaque but other monkeys and apes as well.
"We have two groups of 70 monkeys and in each group there are a number of families. In each group there is a dominant male. When I say dominant, I don't mean a bully, but dominant in that he gets the most support from the others in the group.
"If you watch the way the Barbary macaque acts, it is very, very interesting. Guillaume and I know what all the actions mean the teeth chattering to each other, for example, is a friendly gesture and they also use the babies as mediators between the group."
Walking around the forest, it is interesting to see the movements and the actions of the monkeys. The babies are watched over by the whole group who are very protective of their own, the teetch chattering is evident between the monkeys and, at this time of year the mating season it is fascinating to watch the females who choose their male.
Surprisingly, the monkeys do not get too near Sophie and Guillaume at feeding time, preferring to stay a little out of arms reach.
We make sure that we do need feed them by hand," says Sophie, who admits the staff have given the monkeys their own names and that they can all recognise each individual monkey 'rather like a teacher in the classroom.'
"The Barbary macaques in Gibraltor have got a bad name because of the way in which they help themselves to people's food, but that is the fault of humans. If you are going to feed an animal by hand, or allow a dog r cat eat from your plate, then the animal is going to do that all the time.
"We want the monkeys here to live in a natural enviornment as is possible, so that means we do not feed them by hand, which means the monkeys will not approach the public. Feeding by the public here is forbidden."
The average age of a Barbary macaque in the wild is 20 years old. At Trentham, however, the average age is 23. The oldest at the moment, following the death of a 31 year old last year, is 27.
"There is a bigger life expectancy here than in the wild," says Sophie. "There are a number of reasons. One of which is that there are no predators here and another is that when the Barbary macaque gets older it loses its teeth, so in the wild, cannot always get the food it needs.
"Here, of course, we are giving them soft fruits bananas and mangos, so they can still eat. It's a bit like a luxury monkey hotel!"
One thing is for sure. The work that Sophie and Guillaume are doing like the rest of the de Turckheim family is fabulous. They are passionate about the monkeys and the way in which they live.
It's a passion that you cannot help but be drawn towards. A passion that is evident throughout the park and a passion that we hope will continue for a long time to come.
Pictures: MARTIN ELLIOTT www.m-eworld.com
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