Chinese Mothers Save Baby Golden Monkey with Breast Milk

March 24, 2002

An endangered baby golden monkey, which was found malnourished and abandoned

in the wild, is recovering after suckling on human breast milk.

Over 30 young mothers volunteered to donate their breast milk to save the

monkey which was found in Badong County in central China's Hubei Province.

The animal was brought to the Hubei Wildlife Rescue Center 10 days ago. The

center formed an emergency rescue plan to save the animal by feeding it

human milk. Prior to this case, no other babygolden monkey to had survived

artificial rearing.

When scientific field researchers from the State Forestry Administration

found the baby monkey during an expedition in Badong, it was weak and

weighed only 500 grams with a 30 cm umbilical cord still trailing from its

stomach.

The researchers waited but failed to see the mother monkey cometo feed the

baby.

The human milk donors had to pass a health examination to contribute their

milk to the hungry monkey.

Li Li, one of the five mothers, joked with her husband that they have

adopted a " monkey son " . She had just given birth to a baby girl.

Reporter saw the little gold monkey in the nursing room looking active and

healthy. Professor Jiang Peiqi, who was incharge of the rescue effort, said

the monkey was out of danger andits body weight had increased to 620 grams

over the past few days.

The rescuers hope the experience will help golden monkey breeding. The rare

species heads China's most endangered animal list with the giant panda. It

is estimated that there are only 10,000 golden monkeys alive in the wild

around the world.

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