I have always had a passion for animals, nature and the outdoor. I became vegetarian 33 years ago and vegan 6 years ago. In 1989, while helping my parents establish themselves on a small holding in the Northern parts of South Africa in a small village called Modjadji, one of their employees brought me this tiny baby vervet monkey. On contacting our government conservation organization I was informed the best thing to do would be to kill it as they are vermin, destroy crops and are a general menace. This ended up being a life changing event for me, as I soon started fighting for the life of this orphaned monkey which led to the formation of the Vervet Monkey Foundation that now fights for the rights of the primates in South Africa and currently looks after over 570 monkeys that have been injured, orphaned, abused due to human wildlife conflict.
morning plenary:
Saturday Morning Plenary