Bringing Amedio to AAP

In a non-stop, 17 hour drive on friday 11 and saturday 12 November, 4 volunteers and the team leader Quarantine Carolien Grim brought rhesus macaque Amedio, 8 marmosets (among which were 2 newborns), 3 raccoons and 2 sugar gliders to AAP in the AAP ambulance. This is their story.

"The head lights of the animal ambulance occasionally have trouble piercing through the thick mist. You silently wonder if it is responsible to continue and at which speed, but no one wants to ask that question out loud. The animals are in the back and as long as we are driving, the back is nice and warm. It is night time on the Route du Soleil near Lyon and luckily traffic is light, because it is nearly weekend. Red tail lights belonging to trucks on their way home are our beacons for a while, until we overtake them and we have to follow our own course in between the white stripes on the dark road again. The truck drivers have no idea that they are being overtaken by a mini-zoo.

Every few hours we stop. First we look at the animals, how are they doing? Then we buy some coffee for the next driver who has to stay awake. There is food for the animals and we check if they still have enough water. The marmosets and the sugar gliders stay hidden. The marmosets share a cage and are probably curled up together. The raccoons are kept seperately and immediately turn towards the light as the ambulance door opens. Is it food that they want or are they just curious? We do not know, but we can see that they are active and one of them growls at his caregiver. Carolien tries to sooth them, which seems to help a bit, but still it most be a strange experience to be in the dark with al these faces staring at you.

Rhesus macaque Amedio goes towards the netting of his carrier. The yellow street lights, the night and the mist create a mysterious atmosphere. We all look at the little fellow and wonder what he is thinking. He looks mainly curious, but we realize that these surroundings are strange to him. A wild animal will always be alert and that is what we see when we look at Amedio's tiny face.

We drive on through the night and struggle our way through the early hours of morning, a difficult time to stay awake. Every now and then we check the temperature in the back of the ambulance. Around 9 a.m. the ambulance reaches AAP and its quarantine. The employees are ready to take in the animals. Amedios carrier is the last to be carried into quarantine. Curious as he is, he is standing up straight and holding on to the netting.

‘Calm down’, I tell him in my mind, ‘for now you are better of than in the dog shelter we picked you up at. I'll see you in three months, and then I will keep track of how you are doing!’ is my promise to him. I hope that I can keep it, for I made the same promise before to Zina, Pepette, Joug, Pluis, Malta, Rastans group, Abri …. There are way too many!

Rob Elders