We had some sad news last week when we could not find Courtney’s infant in the Scarlet Group and its with displeasure that i reveal to you that the infant was only with the group a mere 10 days before disappearing, the cause of which is unknown. But from death has come intrigue as Courtney has begun to borrow the infant of Natalie, a very unusual and rarely reported behaviour. As reported by Bino and Richard last year after infant death the females will often suckle on their own milk
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8287000/8287774.stm).
Courtney is the dominant female and maybe with this rank comes some privileges, like the sharing of another’s infant.
We had a quick visit from Bino and his wife Raffaella to the field last week as they dashed across from their Easter break in Rome. It was Raffaella’s first visit to the field site and i think they both had a great time with us and the monkeys.
We were also witness to one of the funniest scenes in the forest as Dakota stole her little sister and went for a jog. Enjoy the video:
http://youtu.be/AMK30j78Tnk
And we saw Rich in the Scarlet group feeding in a sea of pine needles but he did not seem to enjoy his all you can eat buffet.
Chris