Pepe had lived in a very restrictive environment with his collar on for as long he could remember.
Suddenly, one day, an accident happened whereby he got his collar off and he found freedom.
Spider monkeys are a species of primates that live in the tropical rainforests of Mexico,
Brazil and other Central American countries.
However it seems they're not so lucky because some have been spotted in other parts of the
world.
For instance, in the 1990s, a group of entrepreneurs found Pepe and put him in a terrible form
of captivity.
He was being used as a circus performer with his head stuffed and he had been given blows
to his upper back.
Young animals are often trafficked into the market and stay there for a long time.
During the 8 years that Pepe has been at the market, he only knows how to live in tight
restraints.
The circus staff kept Pepe on a chain, which was in turn attached to the collar around
his neck.
Not only did this limit his movement, but his tormentors also implemented other cruel
methods of animal control.
For example, they broke Pepe’s teeth to stop him biting.
In addition, Pepe suffered emotional issues as a result of being separated from other
Spider monkeys.
There are laws against keeping circus animals in Peru, but some owners still flout them.
That was how Pepe came to the attention of Animal Defenders, International ADI.
ADI is an animal rights group with bases in Columbia, the USA and London, as well as campaigning,
it also takes a more active role in rescuing creatures, such as Pepe.
That was the case during a project called Operation Spirit of Freedom.
The Peruvian government initiated undercover investigations alongside ADI to enforce the
country's animal protection laws.
The scale of the problem uncovered, however, exceeded all expectations.
Circuses like the one keeping Pepe had massive numbers of animals.
So, Operation Spirit of Freedom moved to liberate them.
In fact, the operation in Peru which freed Pepe was one of the largest single circus
liberations on record.
heart-warmingly Pepe’s moment of freedom was actually caught on camera.
The footage reveals Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips, ADI’s co-founders removing Pepe’s chains.
“The color was wired on; it was never meant to come off him.”
Phillips explains in a June, 2018 animal planet video upload.
This fact makes the chain's removal all the more important and Pepe reacts in the most
remarkable way.
He looks deeply into his rescuers eyes as they set him free.
However, Pepe’s rescue was just the start of his journey.
He had a long road to recovery ahead of him and needed to heal on both a physical and
on emotional level.
ADI began by fixing the damage inflicted on the little monkey's teeth.
Pepe’s rescuers arranged for the veterinary world's premier dentists to begin work on
the oral trauma, but perhaps the deepest wounds were the ones that came from the monkey’s
long isolation.
Phillips, and creamer worked hard to fix those as best as they could.
Pepe’s recovery time revealed him to be a loving and affectionate primate who longed
for contact.
“He needed to be held,” Creamer said in a video for animal planet uploaded by the
animal's website, the Dodo in June, 2018, “he needed physical comfort to counter the
loneliness.”
And so that's what ADI provided for Pepe and creamer in particular, bonded tightly with
him.
She admitted that he was the first animal she spent time with whenever she visited the
rescue center.
On the other hand, his rescuer also knew Pepe’s human reliance wasn't ideal.
“Pepe is very attached to human beings and loves touching and cuddling,” Creamer explained.
But the ultimate goal is to give Pepe as close and experienced to a natural life as possible.
Bearing that in mind he needed the company of another spider monkey.
As luck would have it, January, 2015 saw ADI free a female spider monkey called Valerie.
Before her rescue, the monkeys’ owners had forced her to perform for restaurant customers.
Phillips and creamer thought, she would make an ideal partner for Pepe and arranged for
the two to meet.
Because Pepe hadn't met another spider monkey before, ADI approached the situation carefully.
Rescue center staff introduced Ppepe and Valerie slowly at first, they were in separate but
neighbouring enclosures.
So they could still see each other without full contact.
They needn't have worried though the primates bonded famously.
Creamer voiced her feelings on ADI’s official website on February 12th, 2015.
“Pepe is a gentle soul with a big heart.”
She said, “and we are absolutely thrilled to see him and Valerie together, knowing they
both spent so many years alone.”
“It was a very emotional moment,” ADI’s co-founder continued.
“Pepe has been incredibly affectionate with all of us, but we knew that what he really
needed was someone of his own kind to love.”
It was a heart-warming result for both spider monkeys, but the monkey couple's story doesn't
end there.
Although Pepe and Valerie met at the rescue center, ADI never intended them to live there.
Instead, rescuers took 39 monkeys, including the kissing couple to Papansuwasi a protected
sanctuary in the Amazon jungle.
Creamer described the moment to the Dodo in April, 2015.
“When we got to the end, we all cried,” Creamer said.
Their response was just wonderful.
They ran all around, swinging on the vines.
They were just fascinated by the trees.
Just with us these past six or seven months, Pepe has learned a different kind of life.
That he could have freedom and most importantly, that he would never be hurt.