Another Dead One

Today (May 7, 2010) was a very sad day at BFMS. Brace yourselves for a semi-gruesome story that may not be suitable for those with weaker stomachs.
A female colobus monkey in one of my study groups (Wawa) died an excruciating-looking death, either last night or early this morning. This time the cause of death doesn`t appear to be human related. One of the colobus female`s hind limbs seems to have gotten stuck in the nook of large tree branch in one of the most immense trees in the forest; a Wawa (the type of tree that the dead female`s group is named after because they hang out in them a lot). The manner in which her limp body is still hanging down from the branch approximately 40 meters high indicates that she must have broken her leg trying to jump off the branch while her foot was stuck. She may not have been able enough to brace herself back on top of the branch to free her leg. It looks as though she died upside down, struggling to get free! I can only imagine the terrifying squeals and screams she must have emitted, or the panicked reactions of the other monkeys in her group. When I got there mid morning, group Wawa had moved on and left the female`s hanging corpse to hang there… I bet I will have nightmares about this for weeks. Each time I close my eyes I still see her contorted figure covered in flies and butterflies that are attracted to the juices that drip from her body. Neither Teresa nor I can identify the young female because due to the intense Africa heat and humidity, by mid morning her face and head had already begun decomposing and her facial features were no longer recognizable. The smell was really bad… I spent some time watching Wawa in the afternoon to see if I could figure out which monkey is missing. However, Wawa was in an area of dense vegetation in the `Sacred Grove`. Poor visibility, combined with Wawa`s large group size (more than 30 monkeys) have made it difficult to figure out the ID of the dead monkey until I spend more time with them.
If you can imagine this, the next step for Teresa and I, once the monkey`s body falls to the ground (maybe by tomorrow), is to do a muscle or organ tissue biopsy! Yes, we will take pictures of the body and go in, cut into the flesh where the tissue`s DNA will be least contaminated, and take a thin strip of tissue that we will store in a special solution for genetic testing in the lab. Of course, both Teresa and I will wear something around our mouths and noses, and we will be dressed in clothes that will be burned afterwards. I am also planning to bathe in a tub of vodka or gin.
Once we do this thing, the body will be taken to the monkey cemetery (not by us, thank God!) in the BFMS forest. Since the monkeys here are scared to the local people, custom has it that the young monkey will be given a sacred burial ceremony by Nana, the fetish priest of Boabeng. The monkey cemetery is one of the main attractions for tourists who come to BFMS. The monkeys buried here have make-shift tomb stones with their age-sex class and date of death, so it`s kind of nice actually.