Foreword: Pepi is a neonatal Red Howler monkey currently undergoing rehabilitation at Merazonia. Pepi is one of the few exceptions to Merazonia's usual hands-off policy due to the specialized care that infant primates like her require, which they would normally receive from their mothers in the wild.

"Once upon a dime and a dilly, there was a little Red Howler Monkey named Pepi. Some argued her name should have been PeePee (for obvious reasons) but it never quite stuck. Poopoo McGoo was tossed around as an alternative option, but it was ultimately decided that this young bundle of joy would be named Pepi.

Her wondrous eyes looked out on the world and thought of all the great trees she would one day climb and sweet, sweet leaves she would crumble and munch; but Pepi was a hesitant girl. Like many of us, her dreams also scared her. Excited to leave the cage, she would rattle the door and fly upon your shoulder once it swung open. "Waaa maaa wa wa wa my name's Pepiiiiiii waaaaa" she would often say, as if suddenly remembering she hadn't had her bottle and was supposed to be cranky. So, "mama for the day" would write in her journal that she was a bit touchy today, and carry on filling up her ittie bittie bottle with the milk she so craved. Pepi would look upon it like it was the last 30 millilitres known to the universe, and once it was ready, she'd grab it with her little hand and begin chugging like a college kid on pledge week. She would let out a little cough and look at you like "why did that happen?" Mama would tell her she must slow down, but she didn't understand.

Once the little Pepmeister was good and full of milk, it was time to adventure out into the big, scary jungle world. The clinic door would swing open and it would be too much at once for such a delicate soul. Pepi would curl into mama's arm and peak out the window of space between elbow and side. Outside were talking birds named Margaret and Checkers who would belt out a "Rita!" or an "Hola!" to let you know they were around. Ground birds, or "chickens" as they call them, would waddle in the way and complain when you had to pass.

Nonetheless, the journey continued on past the poopy compost and into the forest of green. Little Pepi would start to wiggle and wobble once she spotted her famous bench, next to a tree to climb and a vine to ascend. The first days, her ambition was quelled by the heights. However, as little Pepi faced her fears every day, she slowly began climbing higher and higher. Soon she was repelling up the vine like it was Rapunzel's hair, hardly holding onto a care in the world. The same became true for the well-known Pepi Tree, a place she would get to know at rising heights and soaring speeds. Some days she'd catch a case of the zoomies and zip around like it was 1969 all over again. Happiness would fill mama's eyes as the progress was oh so divine. Sometimes mama felt such pride she'd let out a little cry.

Those special moments made up for all the temper tantrums and well-timed pee to poo combos on double XPee weekend. Every time. Every stinken time you'd be ready to put her back into her cage she would take it as a golden opportunity to liquify your linens. Though some things never changed, little Pepi became a whole new monkey in just a blip of time. She taught mama that no challenge is too big to conquer, and sometimes we have to start jumping onto random trees and free the explorer locked within our hearts. It's only when we take this leap of faith that we begin our journey to our true potential."

Thank you Jason, for putting into words, what a day in the life of surrogate care really is like! Jason volunteered at Merazonia for two months and during this time became one of baby Pepi's surrogate "dad's". Pepi is growing stronger and more confident everyday and we soon hope to reduce her contact with humans entirely.

Can't get enough of little Pepi? Watch this video to learn more about where she came from and then watch this video to see how far she's come since arriving!

For more fun Merazonia stories by Jason Brendel we advise you to go check out his blog. There you will find a variety of stories including the time our released howlers gracefully fell out of a tree!?!