Bambelela Wildlife Care
The Bambelela Wildlife Care and Vervet Monkey Rehabilitation Facility is located
20 km from Bela Bela in Limpopo, South Africa. Since 2008 Bambelela has successfully rehabilitated 23 troops of monkeys – a total of over 750 vervet monkeys, which are now living free at safe release sites, on bushveld farms in the Limpopo province.
Silke von Eynern, the founder and major benefactor of the facility, originally immigrated to South Africa from Germany in 1990 with her late husband. After his death in 1997 she decided to dedicate her life and savings towards the care and conservation of South African wildlife and so Bambelela (which means ‘to hold on’ in Zulu, one of the official languages of this country) came into being in 2003. It is well known and especially well regarded for its exceptional work with vervet monkeys. Since 2008 it has successfully rehabilitated 23 troops (a total of over 750 vervet monkeys), which are now living free at safe release sites, on bushveld farms in the Limpopo Province.
Where the monkey love began… back in 2005, Silke’s heart was touched by a vervet monkey. It was found abandoned in a cage on a property outside Bela, which was for sale. The owners had already departed, so the estate agent brought the young, female vervet to Bambelela. A few days later, a neighbour dropped off a younger one. Then, a vervet baby was taken away from someone in Naboomspruit and she ended up at Bambelela, too. The spark of interest in primatology was ignited! Silke began her quest for knowledge about these special creatures, how to hand-raise them, how to build appropriate enclosures or camps for them, how to feed them and how to prepare them for release back into the wild.
Today Bambelela is well known and especially well regarded for its exceptional work with vervet monkeys. Bambelela is now home to over 400 of them, necessitating a team of FGASA students, field guides and volunteers from around the world to join Silke in her work with these and all the other wildlife that comes to Bambelela for rehabilitation and care.
How you can make a difference.
Bambelela Wildlife Care is a registered NPC 2015/271368/08, registration No. K2015271368. It also works very closely with C.A.R.E. PrimeCrew and functions as an in-between-transfer station for orphaned or injured baboons in this area.
Funding freedom: If you wish to help, please donate via PayPal: [email protected]
More info: www.bambelela.org.za