"Life at PPI" Blog Post by Brooke Chavez Today was the perfect day for young Phoebe, a snow and long-tailed macaque hybrid, who was born at the sanctuary in October (after a failed vasectomy) to make her first forays into her outdoor habitat. In our last newsletter, we detailed her foster care by a primate infant specialist who took care of her since birth. Now that she is on her own, she is learning about all things macaque. Like any toddler she is incredibly active; she plays, climbs and leaps from one perching station to the next as she rambunctiously explores her new world and realizes that she is, after all, a macaque.  You can imagine that there will be many firsts for Phoebe – and we will do our best to capture these moments and share them with you, so you can see her grow right along with us – as she becomes a full-sized adult. These amazing animals mature and grow at an incredible rate. A macaque typically reaches full maturity on average in only four to seven years – depending upon the species. This month will be particularly special as we are featuring Phoebe as our “Primate of the Month” (Hint: She’s looking for additional sponsors! Please click here for information about becoming her sponsor)– so you will have to pardon our enthusiasm with too many cute pictures. Primarily Primates provides care for 54 macaques comprised of five distinct species – long-tailed, rhesus, snow, bonnet, and our newest resident Skeeter – a pig-tailed macaque. Finally, we also have hybrids like Phoebe, as macaques are able to breed inter-species. This is a fraction of the 23 species of macaques and their populations in the wild – but still you may wonder – why so many macaques at one sanctuary? The reasons are numerous and tragic, and will be the subject of next week’s post, titled – “Macaques in the Old World?” (To find out how to receive a newsletter subscription by becoming a member, click here)