Electrocuted Howler Infants Become Best Friends

These two tiny infant howlers were both badly electrocuted when their mother’s climbed onto uninsulated power transformers. Liza’s mother’s body caught on fire, causing severe thermal burns as well as electrical burns. Mario was a newborn when his tail was severely damaged with burns, inflammation, and torn muscles and quickly became necrotic and needed to be amputated. 

Both Liza and Mario needed pain management medication, anti-inflammatories, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, oxygen therapy, and soothing burn cream. And they both spent several weeks inside our incubator.

The prognosis for electrocuted monkeys is poor. Although external wounds can be treated, internal damage can be very serious and might not show for many months.

Electrocution injuries have a deleterious biochemical effect on the bodies of mammals, which can lead to irreversible organ damage. Of the monkeys brought to the clinic, approximately two-thirds succumb to their terrible injuries. Due to their young age and the severity of their injuries, we were certain that Mario and Liza would not survive more than a few days. Thanks to the medical attention and exceptional care they’ve received from our veterinary staff, both infants have healed from their burns and are growing strong. We will need to keep a close eye on them and watch for organ damage that might still manifest, but we are very thankful that they are doing very well.

What we did not expect was that the two most critical orphans in our care would become the very best of friends! Immediately Liza and Mario were drawn to each other because they both needed a little extra care due to their severe injuries. Because they were both very young when they were rescued, Mario and Liza snuggled each other while they healed from their injuries, adjusted to life in captivity, and came to terms with being away from their families. Then, as they grew, they started to become more playful with each other; wrestling and smiling at each other. Now that Mario and Liza are a little older, they have become quite the duo, spending most of the day jumping around the nursery together and causing mischief!