Publications on celebrities are preferred by the great apes. Sanctuary is home to several species of apes, monkeys, lions and bears.

by Geraldo Jr. (G1)

Original text (in Portuguese): http://g1.globo.com/sao-paulo/sorocaba-jundiai/noticia/2014/11/chimpanzes-leem-revistas-e-curtem-aposentadoria-em-sorocaba.html

In this link you can check a video and a photo gallery of the chimpanzees in the sanctuary.

Every morning, just after waking up, Guga receives a breakfast basket with assorted items such as fruit, juice, yogurt and milk. But nothing makes him as happy as a portion of magazines, which he leafs page by page carefully, as if he understood every word written. In fact, the interest of Guga, a 14 year old chimpanzee, is in the photos, drawings and pictures that adorn the pages that he handles with address, similar to that of a human.

The skilled chimpanzee lives in the sanctuary maintained by GAP (Great Ape Project) – the Great Ape Project – in Sorocaba (SP), which also houses lions and bears who were victims of abuse in zoos and circuses in the country.

“Guga has been here since the beginning of the sanctuary. He was accustomed to handling magazines and newspapers since he was a baby, so he gets so excited when he wins this treat. He spends a lot of time browsing them, he seems a person,” says the handler Meire Miranda, 40, responsible for taking care of primates, especially the youngsters.

Guga is not the only one who likes to “read” magazines. Most chimpanzees react with excitement when they win a copy. Some begin to “read” on the same floor as soon as they take the magazines. Others prefer to find a quiet place, preferably at the top of the “house” where they live, leaning against the wall. “Magazines must have enough drawing, figure, propaganda. They do not like too much text. Therefore, gossip and celebrities are preferred,” she says.

Even the young ones show interest in the hobby, even if not yet have the ability to flip through the pages. The difficulty, after delivering the magazines, is to recover them intact, as many pages end up being uprooted by those whose skill does not follow the excitement.

But Meire account that even when you can recover the entire magazine, you have to take care not to deliver the same the next day. “They realize when the magazine is repeated and complain”, she tells.

Not only in the taste for “reading” chimpanzees are similar to humans. They have mood and behaviors swings common in persons, which requires attention from caregivers who work in the sanctuary. “There are days when they wake up in a bad mood, angry, do not want to talk. We have to learn to respect their bad mood. They also hold grudges, show contempt. Once I promised Lucke that I would pass in his room to give him something, but for some reason I left. He was not looking in my face for two days. I felt contempt as if he was a person, “she recalls.

‘Retirement’

GAP sanctuary was created in 2000 by microbiologist and entrepreneur Peter Ynterian. The first resident was Guga, who had been “adopted” to be raised by Pedro and he was three months old.

In 2006, the work of GAP in the country started to be represented officially by the NGO GAP Project – Support Primates Group. The creator of the project in Brazil today is the international president of the organization, which has offices in several countries.

The goal of the project is to give a definitive home to animals who used to live in inadequate conditions, often submitted to ill-treatment. In addition to offering the “retirement”, the sanctuary also promotes rehabilitation.

But in the case of great primates, often years of forced labor in circuses and zoos can prevent them to live in the company of others of the same species.

“Some have suffered so much and spent so many years isolated that cannot adapt and return to live in community. In these cases, they are brought and placed in a unique space. We have had cases of a chimpanzee practising self mutilation because of the trauma he suffered. But we also have the example of Jimmy; when he arrived here, he ‘adopted’ the cubs abandoned by the mother for not knowing breastfeeding and now he has a family, ” Meire explains.

One of the most illustrious guests is Catarina, who worked for at least three decades in circuses across the country and was stamped figure in talk shows on TV in the 90s. Catarina spent the last years before being taken to Sorocaba in 2009 by making presentations in schools dressed as a child. Today, at 47, she takes the “retirement” alongside with her fellow Jango. “She was created as a person for so many years that she lost her natural instincts,” Meire laments after having her face caressed by the curious hands of the chimpanzee.

Sons and daughters

The concern for animals is part of a work that dominates the live of Meire for 14 years, when she switched an electrical engineering career to live with primates. “I was accompanying a colleague in a job interview at the site where Pedro Ynterian lived with his wife and Guga, who was then five months old. She did not accept the job, but I fell in love with the little chimp and the project of the refuge, then decided to drop everything to live here, ” she says.

The word live here is literal, as Meire live within the sanctuary. She only leaves the place when to go to college, where she studies photography – hobby that arose from the habit of taking dozens of daily photos of the primates. Now the photos adorn the annual calendar of the entity.

She visits daily all chimpanzees, with whom she talks, calling them affectionately of sons and daughters. But she also knows the name, life story and the preferences of each one in food time. “Just as we humans, each one prefers one type of food. Some like plain yogurt, other strawberry. Some eat a type of vegetables and some do not.”

To feed so many mouths, the local kitchen receives boxes and more boxes of fruits and vegetables each week. The refrigerators are full of milk boxes, juices, chocolate milks and yogurts. A cook prepares the food, which is given to chimpanzees only after Meire experience.

“Here the animals have access to a balanced diet and a life free of abuse caused by the suffering in circuses and zoos and the dangers they would face in their habitat, as predators and hunters,” she says.

‘Adoptive mother’

Of all chimpanzees living in the sanctuary, one gets special attention from Meire: Little Caesar, 10 months old. When he was born, his mother, Samantha, wrapped Caesar in a blanket and left abandoned on the ground. “As her mother was created by humans she did not enjoy the care of a biological mother. So she left and I turned to create him, as his adoptive mother,” she says.

Caesar spends the day in a unique venue in the sanctuary, with slides, swings and plastic toys. At night, he goes to Meire’s home, who lives with eight cats and four dogs. “He sleeps in the room, in a fenced space. Gradually we are presenting him to the mother until she assumes his raising,” she explains, with the property of those who have been ‘nanny’ of nine chimps.

The small chimpanzee behaves like a child when he sees the adoptive mother. Runs into her lap and falls into laughter when tickled.

Meire hopes that this contact remains even after Caesar reach adulthood, which did not happen with Guga, whom she also met when he was a  baby. “I spent a great time without seeing him because I had to take care of my mother, who was ill. When I came back, he did not recognize me, I lost the confidence to stay with him. Only with time is that he remembered what we used to play. His size and strength are also an aggravating factor, as he is very strong and can hurt us even unintentionally, “she says.

The last embrace she had of Guga, she recalls, was when he fled the room. “When he saw me, ran up on me and hugged me. I was scared, but it was good to feel that hug again. Then he took my hand and led me into the house, as I was with him when he was baby, “she recalls.

The only one who enters the enclosure of adult great primates is the president of GAP. “Dr. Pedro stays in the sanctuary from Friday to Monday. During these days he takes special basket with fruits for chimpanzees and gets to sleep in the room with them,” she says.

No visit

The sanctuary is installed at kilometer 90 of Highway Castello Branco, in an area of almost 560 square meters surrounded by green. In addition to the 55 chimpanzees, 60 capuchin monkeys, 12 spider monkeys, four gibbons, marmosets and other primates, the site also houses 13 lions and three bears.

But who is interested in knowing the friendly primates, bad news: the place is not open to public visitation. The animals’ right to privacy is one of the ideas advocated by GAP project.

Various animals that are now in the sanctuary came from zoos, where they received daily visits of hundreds of people. “The presence of strangers stresses the animals. In a zoo it happens all the time, systematically. The animals only have rest at night. I always say that it’s like having a lot of people in the window of your home looking you while you eat, play, go to the bathroom. Animals feel shame, need privacy, just like us. When you are in a zoo and a monkey is screaming or throwing something towards you, he is not playing. It is sign of stress “, she says.

On the morning G1 met the sanctuary, the only people in the place, besides the staff ,were the masons who worked in the construction of new enclosures to house future residents.

GAP project attempts to now bring the 56^th chimpanzee in the sanctuary: male Blackie, 50, who lives in the zoo of Sorocaba for more than 40 years. The presence of another guest means more work for Meire? “I love what I do so I cannot even call it work. They are my family. I have spoken to Dr. Pedro to build a small cemetery here. So when I die, I can stay here forever,” she jokes.