Hanger Clinic of Melbourne has provided J, a black-handed spider monkey from the Brevard Zoo, with a custom brace for his injured foot.

He injured it when he was first placed in the Rainforest Revealed area. His injury did not heal correctly, which forced J to walk on the outside of his foot. Because of this, he suffered scrapes and pressure wounds. As a result, the zoo reached out to the Hanger Clinic of Melbourne, which has made prosthetics for other animals. 

“Prior to this we did not have a relationship with the Hanger Clinic,” Marketing and Communications Director Andrea Hill said.

Freshman Aubrey Reiter said the efforts of the Zoo and the Hanger Clinic were effective and necessary.

“In the wild, an injury like this could be fatal,” Reiter said. “It could be infected or cause the monkey to get caught by a wild animal. I think that the Zoo is definitely doing the monkey population a favor because this monkey is going to survive the injury as well as heal the correct way.”

Reiter said she has been impressed by the zoo’s continued efforts in animal conservation.

“One of the zoo’s best features is their ability to keep animals alive, something that couldn’t be done in nature,” she said.

J was brought to the Zoo in August 2021 after he was confiscated at the United States-Mexico border. Reiter applauds the Zoo for helping to solve the problem.

“Wildlife trafficking in general is a horrible criminal act, but wildlife trafficking of endangered species threatens the beautiful wildlife that we still have,” she said. “It can destabilize the environment and, aside from money, there are no benefits. Communities built on nature can crumble too. Overall, the criminals who poach and smuggle these animals must be stopped in order to preserve endangered species.”

By Abigail Wang