|
Sally
(2), Zena (18 months) * and Cozy (10) were all
recently released from quarantine and are now in
their own enclosure at Chimpanzee Eden, doing
extremely well.
Visitors to the Sanctuary can now see these
youngsters, as well as the older chimps -Nikki,
Abu and Amadeus - that have been in their own
enclosure since mid-year.
“This has great educational benefits,” says
Sanctuary Manager, Phillip Cronje. “Visitors
can feel that temptation for people to keep baby
chimps. But we then take them to show what the
babes grow into – and they can see how
unrealistic it is to even consider keeping these
animals as domestic pets.”
Joao, the huge male from Mozambique, aged around
44, is gradually being introduced to Nikki, Abu
and Amadeus, as the idea is to eventually
integrate the four males into one group. This is
a slow process, and these first steps are just
some of many.
*Chimpanzee Eden ran a competition in Mpumalanga
to name this 18-month old female chimp from
Dubai. Zena was the name chosen from all the
entries, and the winner won a weekend at the
luxurious Umhloti Lodge, adjacent to the
Sanctuary.
|
|
