She was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, in the early 1970s. In 1975, she was captured and her parents were killed in a possibly mad capture program of baby chimpanzees in Africa to send them to North America, for projects of medical experiments. The destination was the Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. On this place they killed dozens of chimpanzees savagely tortured for years.

Gertrude was less than 5 years old when she arrived. In the first year she was anesthetized at least 30 times, with the sole purpose of drawing blood. Her liver was also punched repeatedly to biopsies.

After this phase, she was assigned to a study where hormones were injected into her body to see how her reproductive system would react. Shortly after it she was subjected to a project of use of experimental diuretics.

When she was 6 years old, she was assigned to a breeding program and had her first child at age 12. In 14 year, she gave birth to 12 babies, all taken from her arms few hours after birth, so she would be able, as she was not going to nurse, to give birth again in a few months. The few times she stayed a little bit with her babies she was a good mother; looked after them, cleaned and kept them warm in her chest.

The reports about what happened to her in subsequent years are not clear. What is known is that every four months she was anesthetized for physical examinations, even if she was pregnant. In 1997, she managed to leave the air base, which was a dark torture center, to another center, maybe even worse, in the same state: the Coulston Foundation, which had more than 200 chimpanzees subjected to experiments and reproducing, to be sold to National Institute of Health and to pharmaceutical companies that had medical experiments projects with primates.

In 2002 her life changed. Save the Chimps Sanctuary took the broken facilities of Coulston Foundation and months later she enjoyed the sun of Florida in the so-called Group of Kiley, where she managed to make friends that allowed them to have at least some happiness in her tragic life.

Several of her children, whom she never met, are in the Sanctuary. In her own group was her daughter Ariel, whom she never acknowledged. Gertrude, with her maternal spirit still alive, adopted baby Kay as her daughter. Gertrude loved doing nests with blankets and enjoyed all foods, especially oranges, which she loved.

Her body weakened by torture for years would not stand much more. Her heart stopped beating one night weeks ago and Gertrude went to other homes where there may not be infamous humans, like those who made her life a hell since childhood. Her children at Save the Chimps Sanctuary and other still scattered in torture centers in North America may remember the few minutes that sacrificed mother strongly retained them next to her chest before they were taken, never to see her again.

Gertrude, Mother Chimpanzee who never could act as one, now rests in peace!

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International