We recently shared an article celebrating the two-year anniversary of the rescue mission that brought Mpo, a chimpanzee who was a victim of the illegal wildlife trade, on a journey across the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the back of a motorbike. As mentioned, Mpo was not alone on this journey. He was accompanied by 22 other primates of varying species who were also rescued from the IWT. Among the 22 other primates was none other than a Patas monkey named Suzy. 

Like many IWT victims, Suzy was on the brink of death when she was rescued, although not in the way one might expect. When Heritier Mpo, the founder of APPACOL-PRN, discovered Suzy, she was just moments away from becoming bushmeat. In her rescue photos, you can still see the knife that was going to be her demise.

Immediately upon being rescued, Suzy adopted another little orphan in APPACOL-PRN’s care, a black-crested mangabey. This was a peculiar choice on Suzy’s part as Patas monkeys and black-crested mangabeys do not typically interact in the wild. Their relationship was likely due to nothing more than Suzy’s maternal instinct.

Suzy made her way across the DRC to JACK Primate Sanctuary where she is one of a kind, with no other Patas monkeys in the care of JACK. She, of course, was originally placed with black-crested mangabeys. But, eventually became the companion for an agile monkey named Uele who was rejected by his own group.

We will never know of Suzy’s story before she was stumbled upon by Heritier Mpo on that fateful day. But what we do know is that Suzy’s ability to step up and fill the role of mother or friend for other monkeys is unmatched. And because of that, we cannot help but to celebrate her.