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Badly Burned Electrocuted Infant Howler Now Thriving!

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Electrocutions, Injuries, Orphans, Prevention, stop the shocks - en
February 11, 2021

Liza has come a long way since she was rescued 2 years ago! She was only a tiny infant when her mother climbed onto an uninsulated power transformer and was killed. Alarmingly, Liza’s singed fur, thermal burns to her face and inside her nose tell us that in addition to the electrical shock, her mother’s body caught on fire during the accident, burning baby Liza. Often, a mother carrying an infant is killed instantly as she absorbs all of the electrical current, but the infant riding on her back only sustains visual injuries to their hands, feet, stomach, and tail (where they are in contact with their mother). In this case, Liza sustained both electrical and thermal burns.

Liza required many weeks of intensive veterinary care which included pain management medication, anti-inflammatories, oxygen therapy, and soothing burn cream. Thankfully, within a few weeks, Liza’s burns healed completely and she was ready to start our Orphaned Howler Rehabilitation Program! Immediately, Liza loved playing with her new friends in the infant nursery and she quickly grew into a happy, thriving juvenile monkey. We are thrilled to report that Liza and her troop are now nearing the final stages of our program and will be the next troop to be released back into the forest!
Liza’s amazing story of recovery is rare. Many electrocuted infant howler monkeys do not survive. In addition to external visual injuries, which we can treat, there are often internal injuries that are slower to manifest and cause permanent and fatal damage to internal organs. On average, IAR Costa Rica responds to over 100 electrocuted howler monkey rescue calls each year. Over half of these monkeys die at the scene or have to be euthanized following a comprehensive veterinary assessment due to the severity of their injuries.  Because the survival rate for electrocution victims is low, we feel that focusing on prevention is the best solution.

Our Wildlife Protection Team wants to Stop the Shocks and is dedicated to ending wildlife electrocutions by insulating transformers, installing rope bridges in the deforested area,s and trimming back tree branches to limit wildlife access to electrical cables.

There is currently no law that is enforced to ensure electrical distribution is safe for arboreal wildlife – we have taken on this task because each day we witness firsthand the injuries and deaths caused by electrocution. We must Stop the Shocks to reduce the amount of injured and orphaned wildlife in our care. None of this amazing work would be possible without support from the public. Help us prevent wildlife electrocutions by insulating your transformers.

You can help us continue to give electrocution victims like Liza the care they need by making a donation online. You can help us prevent electrocutions by making a donation to our Stop the Shocks program so we can make more electrical transformers safe for monkeys and other arboreal wildlife.

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