A New Life

A beautiful morning at the Animal Sanctuary nestled at the feet of Arunachala.

And below the monkey cage which by the time you read this will be completely empty.

And here is one sweet monkey, unknowingly saying goodbye.

And the younger female monkey is being embraced on what will be her last day at the Sanctuary.

Goodbye little dear.

And all Dr. Raju will have to remember you by is your favourite toy -- a little monkey.

Late yesterday night the monkeys were sedated and taken by van on a journey -- one that would take nearly 10 hours by road. They were accompanied by a friend and worker from the Sanctuary and were on their way to a new life of freedom. The daylight breaks at the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

And the monkeys' new life begins.

For nearly a year these two young female bonnet macaque monkeys have resided at the Animal Sanctuary at Tiruvannamalai while gradually recovering from traumatic incidents in their lives. One of the monkeys became paralysed after a bout of tetanus and the other was injured from her time with street performers.

While gradually returning to full health their home has been a cage at the Sanctuary but after they were both given a clean bill of health, the Animal Sanctuary arranged their relocation to an Animal Refuge bordering the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in the Nilgris District of Tamil Nadu.

The young monkeys will spend time at the Animal Refuge while being slowly educated into living a free and independent life within the Wildlife Sanctuary. And what a time they’ll have as the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary is 321 sq kms and comprises flat land, open grassland, lakes, valleys and swamp. A New Wonder-filled Life.