My name is Jan Hampton and with my husband James, we have been running a Vervet monkey project in South Africa for approximately six months every year, from September to March. One day in 1999 we heard of the persecution of Vervet monkeys, that Vervets were being shot, killed by traps or dogs and by road traffic accidents. From September to March is the Vervet monkey baby time and the Authorities were having to euthanase most of the neo-natal babies after their mothers were killed. This was because there were only a handful of Care Centres who had the knowledge, experience and time to rear these babies as it is a 24hr a day job. Well, we took on the job and started a Care Centre in June 2000, we called it The Hamptons Wildlife Care Centre. We are dedicated to the conservation of South African wildlife and in particular, Vervet monkeys.

For the last 10 years we have rescued and reared approximately 300 orphaned Vervets. This does not include the birds and other wildlife we often have to deal with. Each year we get more "tinies" and it is getting more important to save these little ones as up to 3,000 Vervets are killed yearly in KwaZulu Natal Province.

We receive orphaned Vervet monkey neo-natal babies from various sources, and we get the neo-natal's from a few hours to a few weeks old and keep them until they are weaned and independent, at approximately 7 months old. They then go out to our enclosure where they join other, older monkeys to form a troop. This troop is then kept for a further 2 years so they can bond and form their own hierarchy before they are taken to Wild Animal Trauma Centre and Haven (WATCH), the Rehabilitation Centre we are affiliated to, where they are kept for up to a further year before being released into the wild, away from human habitation.

 We are registered and permitted by Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife to carry out this work. The South African SPCA have also inspected our premises and we are recommended by them as the primary Centre in KwaZulu-Natal to take neo-natal Vervet babies. We are also members of the Primates Ecology and Genetics Group (PEGG).

In the season of 2008/9, we had 24 vervet monkeys (18 neo-natal, 5 juveniles and 1 adult) which is more than we have ever had in any previous year. These were transferred to WATCH.

For the 2009/2010 season we had 20 neo-natals plus 14 adults and juveniles. These will form the core troop which we will keep for up to two years.

We do not only take care of Vervet monkeys and the following is a list of other wildlife that we have dealt with in the past year and a half.

1 Reed Buck fawn.

14 Vervets between the ages of 1 1/2 yrs to 5 yrs.

20 orphaned neo-natal Vervets.

6 Hadeda Ibis chicks (2 of these still come to be fed once or twice a day, Harvey & Harry).

1 Goat kid.

3 Weaver chicks.

1 Ringneck Dove.

1 Flycatcher chick.

1 Rameron pigeon (unfortunately we got it too late and it died).

1 Jacobin Cuckoo.

1 Wryneck

1 Kingfisher

2 more tortoises (we now have 4).

3 wild duck chicks.

1 Fruit Bat.

  This is our Care Centre - which is also our home.                     This is where the younger orphans live.

  The volunteer accommodation is on the top floor.

On the left is the outside enclosure from the 2008/2009 season for older orphans and rescued adults. On the right is the framework for the extension to the enclosure to give the monkeys three times the volume of the smaller enclosure.

Above are photographs of the finished enclosure (complete with monkeys). Note the original, smaller enclosure on the right of the photo, beside the new extension. This work has been made possible by donations which are acknowledged on the Donations page.

Our Care Centre is now located in Byrne Village, 15km north of Richmond in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, about 50km from Pietermaritzburg and 120km from Durban. GPS co-ordinates 29E49'35" S, 30E10'54" E.