Yesterday, Monday (September, 14), was an atypical day at the Great Primates Sanctuary of Sorocaba. It was 11am and a wake-up call warned us that chimpanzee Caco had escaped. We put on our ongoing emergency system for these cases, warning everyone to protect, until those who had more intimacy with him find him.

Pandemonium of shouts erupted in the sanctuary, which is common when a chimpanzee escapes and begins to visit his colleagues in neighboring enclosures. Caco was news to most, he had never escaped in 12 years and few knew him, since due to his history of mental illness, he lives with July and has access to various venues along the lakes, where most of the other chimpanzees only have access visually and at distance.

The theory is this one: it seems that poachers were nocturnally visiting the lakes, to play fishing nets, and Caco must have seen them. On that day, two employees of the Sanctuary, little known to him, were inspecting the lakes, as we are planning to begin a thorough job of cleaning them. Then he decided to jump over the wall. One of Caco’s  enclosures has a marked slope, where you can run and, putting one foot in an open hole in the wall, can jump up to reach the edge of the wall. When he jumped out the enclosure, the staff ran out, but he must have recognized them and did not chase them; he started walking, bordering the enclosures, heading toward Peter and family, and Bongo and Billy’s.

As it is common in chimpanzees when they are under stress, both in the wild and in captivity, they make noise to frighten those who may be in their surroundings. He went to the back of the enclosures, next to the woods, and fought through the windows with chimpanzees who live there. As the forest was closed and receptivity was not good, he decided to return, entered the edge of the lake for drinking water and returned to where he had jumped from.

There I found him sitting against the wall, breathless, wet and nervous. I stopped my old Honda car, he recognized me, and was quiet. I offered him to enter into the car, but he was not interested; after all, as a young man, he rode a Mercedes with his human father through Curitiba city streets.

I sat next to him and watched. He cooled off and tried to climb the wall back to his room. July cried desperately, as she was alone. I talked to Caco to go with me, I showed him the keys to enter the other side, and he followed me. His heart was very quick and I had to take him by the hand. Along the way he laid on the grass, I was beside him, massaging his chest. I convinced him to continue, he leaned into me. Caco is an athletic and very strong chimpanzee, I could hardly walk with him. We have reached a point of entry at the Francis’ enclosure where Charles – dead weeks ago – also lived. I open, but he did not know Charles was dead and was afraid to enter. He saw the door of the hall to all the enclosures, then I took him there.

To enter the hall, Sam and Rakker – the Dutch ones – were waiting for him with bottles and objects to throw at him. At this time, Caco reacted. He was brave and bought the fight. Sam and Rakker were behind bars and the danger was minimal. He came stomping in the long corridor toward the complex of enclosures. I closed, stayed outside and watched. As we closed the access to the external enclosure from where he jumped, Caco arranged mess in the hallway. Francis appeared and he began to make jokes to her. Francis was terrified, but was protected by the grid. She screamed and July, who knew Caco was near, cried too. Chimpanzees are very scandalous, like us humans.

After a few minutes, I entered the hall and took him to the entrance of his enclosure. He wanted water, I gave him and opened the access to his enclosure, where he entered looking for July.

Caco was our first experience with traumatized chimpanzees in zoos. It has been our most dramatic case. When we came from Sorocaba Zoo, where he stayed for six years in display taking tranquilizers and sedatives, he mutilated his legs horribly, tearing chunks of them. The recovery was painful, as the wounds infected and when healed, he used to make another cutting. Advised by human psychiatrists, we medicate him with Prozac for several years and put him in a more isolated cage with July, who also came from Piracicaba Zoo. She feared him, but, at the same time, was very jealous of him.

The last time I had entered with Caco was about 11 years ago. However, I always kept a close relationship with jokes and he was always affectionate, and showed his joy to see me.

Caco lived an unimaginable adventure for him and for us. He made an Olympic leap to overcome a wall of more than 4 meters high and was uninjured. I thought I would have a heart attack when I was returning with him. It was a lot of excitement for a short time and unknown challenges ahead. At no time he was aggressive with me, on the contrary, he was of an extreme delicacy.

Caco returned to the chimpanzee life, left behind the ghosts of his brain that pursued for years, by the damn life in a zoo, displayed to an ignorant audience, who laughed and made fun of his rage reactions. He has returned to be chimpanzee in his way: explosive, yet delicate, curious, however conservative, playful with those who appreciate and rebel against those who try to attack him.

Caco saw what many of our chimpanzees have also seen in this mad world, with so many risks and enemies; it is better to stay in his place and not tempt fate.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International