Tacugama

Category: Charlie Girl, Chimpanzee, Introduction, Tacugama | Date: Dec 31 2007 | By: admin

Everyone in camp is happy as three tiny tots: Mary, Tico and Jettie from quarantine are graduating to the introduction group. Whenever we receive newly rescued chimps they are isolated from the rest of the sanctuary’s chimpanzees for around three months so that we can bring them back to full health and ensure they’re not carrying any transmissible diseases. They frequently arrive in very poor shape and sometimes carrying injuries sustained through capture.

Mama Posseh is the member of our team in charge of caring for those in quarantine and it’s a great sight to see her singing and doing the daily rituals of cleaning, feeding, preparing the hammocks whilst carrying the babies on her back. The young chimps in isolation would normally be carried by their mothers or other group members in the wild and this daily contact with Mama Posseh is a much welcomed part of their day and a strong bond builds between them. Today Mama Posseh was a little sad as she knew this was her last time to carry these three chimps as she helps to introduce them to the group with which they will hopefully form strong and lasting bonds. These will replace their wild families that they were cruelly separated from in unknown but doubtless traumatic circumstances.

Mama Posseh with Jettie and Tico

It is a bitter sweet experience for Mama Posseh. She will still be their mama looking after them in the introduction area as they grow accustomed to their new company. She hates to see her babies being bullied by the bigger ones in the established group – it’s a careful introduction process that we have to manage to ensure that groups remain balanced – but they have to learn their place in the hierarchy. This is also the time when they are introduced to the electric fence! In most cases they do get a shock or two before they learn to respect the wires and it is worrying time for Posseh. Our chimps are so lucky to have her – she does an amazing job - but sadly we can never replace their real mothers killed by our fellow humans.

On a continuing note, Charlie Girl is keeping Dr. Rosa busy! She managed to remove the first cast (it lasted just for a week!) and the second one lasted 10 days! We decided to take her again to the hospital for a follow-up X-ray before the third cast. We go through the whole process again. The new cast seems better as we have definitely learnt a bit from the previous ones. The bone had shifted and Rosa and team had to realign it again. Some callus is already forming and it just needs couple more weeks. We head back to camp just in time for Charlie Girl to come around. She is not happy to see her arm wrapped again in this stiff white stuff and gazes into Rosa´s eyes with contempt!

Charlie Girl knows what she’s planning…

Next morning, we found Charlie Girl hanging on the grills of her den with a funny face. (Rosa is claiming that Charlie Girl was laughing at all of us!) Got to be! Our best cast to date lies on the floor… … shredded into bits!