Caesar completed one year old on December 10^th. Just like with his sisters, his mother, Samantha, did not breastfeed him and we had to raise him. This time was different, as Caesar,  during the day, was in the Sanctuary, in his enclosure, and in the afternoon and at night he went handler Meire’s home, who lives in a house in the Sanctuary with her family.

César spent his first year living as a human and with humans, but also living with chimpanzees. He already plays with her sister Suzi and knows some of his future adult companions, as well as his mother, Samantha.

Days ago, we took Caesar to see his grandmother, Ditty, who has a daughter, Cecilia – Caesar’s aunt -, who is two years old; when we compare both it clearly indicates that Caesar is twice the size of Cecilia, who is twice his age.

It is also something that we have noted in his sisters, when we compared them with other babies born in the Sanctuary and living with their mothers. Humane treatment develops the chimpanzee rapidly in every sense, doubling its size, compared to those who stayed with their biological mothers.

However, beyond this, Caesar is very humanized, more than Guga and his group, who also lived with us a few years before becoming independent in their territory.

We think Caesar will surprise us, since, besides the characteristics of his species, he will acquire human characteristics, which will convert him in a extraordinarily evolved being. He will end up being the leader of the group of young Brazilian chimpanzees living in the Sanctuary and will perpetuate the existence of his species in the new world.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International

Pictures of Caesar at GAP Sanctuary of Sorocaba – Brazil: