Tacugama

Category: Chimpanzee, Education, Gaura | Date: May 18 2008 | By: tacugama

Cheeta managed to nick the two way radio from Willie and was happily going around, showing off her new toy to the rest of her gang. We tried all sorts of ways to get it back but she was proving to be much smarter than us. She was getting excited hearing her name coming out of the radio and all the attention from the chimps and staff as everyone was following her. The entire Tacugama team was having a good laugh. I wanted to join in….but just the thought of buying another radio for $400 did not permit me. 48 hours gone, the battery has gone flat and the chances of finding the bloody radio in this thick forest is very slim! Cheeta wins! You can bet we’ll be looking at how to secure those radios better….

Cheetah holding her prize aloft, safely out or reach….
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Category: Chimpanzee, Tacugama | Date: May 05 2008 | By: admin

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When Augusta died two months ago, we were very concerned about her companion and best friend, Gorilla (one must be sick to name a chimp- Gorilla!) They have lived together for the past 11 years and Gorilla was the only chimp Augusta would trust and share her life with.

I first met Gorri in 1993 in a deplorable condition sharing his cage with a smaller chimp-Cheeta, both owned by a dubious Austrian Doctor who was dealing in exotic birds and other wildlife. He was rarely in the country and the chimps were left in the care of his care taker who could only afford to feed them sporadically. I was told on many occasions they would go without food and water for days. They learnt to eat their own excrement! The Doctor also owned another chimp called Fatu, who lived in an old toilet next to Gorilla and Cheeta. Fatu’s “toilet” was over 1.5 meters deep in rotting food and her own excrement.
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