Chimpanzee Cecília arrived, in April, at Great Apes Sanctuary of Sorocaba, in Brazil, affiliated to GAP Project, e since then is experience a quality of life in captivity she had never sensed, because she only knew her tiny cage in Mendoza zoo, in Argentina. The case of Cecília is a turning point in the history of animal rights, as she is the first chimpanzee in the world who is really enjoying the right to live in a sanctuary, granted through a Habeas Corpus, which, until then, was considered an exclusively human legal instrument.

In the first weeks at the sanctuary, Cecilia was still scared and was adapting to her new life. After some time and the quarantine, she started to relax and the team of the sanctuary began to think about the possibility that she could be joint to another chimpanzee, a very important condition for the welfare of apes. After a lot of observation, visual contact and touch through the enclosures windows, Cecília finally got together with Marcelino in the end of August and the “chemistry” between them could not have been better. After five months, Cecília is happier than ever!

Check some of the new photos of Cecília and Marcelino at the sanctuary: