NEWS AT CHIMFUNSHI

In the end of the morning a big yell mobilized every keeper. Something was happening, a fight, a snake…? No, nothing like that. Moyo, a three-year-old baby chimpanzee, son of Maggie, had stuck his head on the grid, trying to enter at the food room before the others. He yelled desperately and the mother was trying to get him out of the grid, pulling him from his head, what made things worse.

The keepers tried to get Maggie for the place where Moyo’s body was, in order to avoid her to try to get him through the grid. Coca-cola made the miracle. When she saw the bottle waiting for her, she went toward it, opened it, the gas get out and Moyo realized that his mother was calmer. Peacefully he was able to release his head from the grid and went to her breasts, to eat and be protected.

A few days ago, hippo Billy, who weights two tons and founded the sanctuary together with Sheila Siddle, was sad. He was not drinking his super milk formula and stood still, not looking for the river in the afternoon. The situation concerned Sheila Siddle for several days and she called the vet. Dr. Emmanuel Chitambala prescribed 50 pills of a medicine and the problem was making him swallow the 50 pills at once.

Sheila, who knows him very well, got bread to put the pills inside. She made him open his mouth – what he easily when he saw the bread, which he likes very much – and put it deeply into his mouth. She waited until she was sure he triturated everything. On the following day the process was repeated. Two days after Billy was normal e early in the morning was near the kitchen, waiting for his super milk formula.

Chimfunshi Sanctuary is the biggest of Africa, with 120 chimpanzees and several other animals. Visit http://www.chimfunshi.org.za/  and support their work.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
President, GAP Project International