The Vervet Forest

08/22/2026

62 Tins for 62 Years 🐒🎂

With Director Dave’s 62nd birthday coming up on 9th September, what better way to celebrate than by doing something that will make a real difference to our tiniest residents? 💚

This year, we’re hoping to buy 62 tins of baby milk for our upcoming baby season - one tin for every year of Dave’s life. 🎂🍼

Every year, orphaned vervet babies arrive at VMF needing warmth, care and, most importantly, regular feeds. As they are orphans and are eventually fostered by monkey mums, they require soy-based formula until around one year old, reflecting the natural length of time they would drink milk from their mothers in the wild.

The formula we use has been carefully chosen to support their growth and development during this important stage, and we also add Protexin to help support their little tummies 💚

Until now, we’ve been fortunate enough to buy our milk in bulk. However, due to ongoing import problems with some of the ingredients, this year we can only purchase individual tins.

That means we need your help to make sure we have enough milk ready and waiting for when this upcoming seasons orphans arrive🐒

Each tin costs R300 (approximately £14 / $19 / €16) and makes up to 106 bottles.

For our current babies in troop, just one tin would provide nearly four days of milk when they are having two bottles each day.

And in our video, little Manu is showing us exactly why these tins matter 🥹

We’d love to fill our milk cupboard with 62 tins before baby season begins.

🎂 62 years.
🍼 62 tins.
🐒 Hundreds of bottles for orphaned babies.

If you’d like to help us reach our goal, you can donate directly through Instagram or head to our donation page and select “Buy a tin of babymilk” from the dropdown:

👉 https://donate.vervet.za.org

Will you help us buy a tin for Dave’s 62nd birthday? 🐒🍼🎂

08/21/2026

Friday Favourites ⭐️ Wedding Edition 💍🐒

This week’s Friday Favourite is a little different, because we’re celebrating Hana & Mark as they tie the knot! 💚

Of course, we couldn’t let their special day pass without celebrating two of their favourite monkeys too! 🐒

Mark’s favourite: Manu 🍼
Mark has many favourites, but for this special Friday Favourite we’re choosing Manu, who lives in Engeltjie with Maggie. Manu arrived this year after being illegally kept as a pet and quickly earned the title of our little milk monster! 🍼

Hana’s favourite: Maggie 💕
Maggie came to VMF in 2017 as an orphan as the only survivor after her entire troop was poisoned. Thankfully, Maggie found a second chance in Engeltjie troop and is now a high ranked member of troop.

Hana & Mark have been involved with the foundation for many years now with Hana recently celebrating her 8 year anniversary whilst Mark has been involved since 2012 - that’s a whole lot of monkeys, memories and love between them! 🐒❤️

From everyone at VMF, congratulations to the happy couple! 💍🥂

08/20/2026

Volunteer With Us 🐒

Have you ever dreamed of spending time in South Africa while making a real difference to the lives of rescued vervet monkeys? 🌍

We’re looking for volunteers year-round to join our team and help care for vervet monkeys who have often arrived as a result of human-animal conflict and need a second chance.

Many of our youngest arrivals are orphans who need 24/7 care when they first arrive. Volunteers help provide the round-the-clock care they need until they’re ready to meet their new monkey family, sometimes from as young as 6 weeks old. Our goal is always to get these little ones back where they belong - in the arms of another vervet.

But volunteering with us isn’t just about caring for babies!

You’ll also help care for the hundreds of rescued monkeys living at the sanctuary, from preparing food and special diets to helping with milk shifts, cleaning, enrichment and the day-to-day care that keeps our monkeys happy and healthy.

It’s hands-on, rewarding and definitely unforgettable! 🥹

With volunteer programmes starting from R17,700 / £810 / €950 / $1,100 for 4 weeks, you can become part of the team and make a difference while gaining hands-on experience in wildlife rehabilitation 🌍

Interested in joining us? Get in touch at [email protected] or send us a message to find out more!

08/20/2026

https://cstu.io/a105a5

When Maddie first arrived, she was severely dehydrated, dangerously...

08/19/2026

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcOiEkQgH82/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

08/19/2026

Thriving in Troop 🫶

Terry is absolutely thriving in troop! Easily recognisable thanks to his golden coat, confidence and our biggest orphan this year by far. Our biggest. He’s still enjoying his milk, playing with Aura and staying close to his foster mum, Maggs. 💛

From that scared, soot-covered little orphan rescued from near a coal mine to a happy, healthy boy thriving in troop, this is exactly what we work so hard for🌿🐒

08/17/2026

Your Weekly Dose of Maddie 👑

Maddie has been climbing trees, playing with Mae and enjoying all the grooms and cuddles 🥰

This is exactly what we hope for and work so hard to achieve with every orphan who arrives at the sanctuary, to see them grow stronger, find their place and simply enjoy being a monkey again.

And Maddie is doing just that 🫶