One thing I have learned in my 15 years living with chimpanzees is to enjoy the delicacy they have when dealing with their similar or with humans that they trust.

Through movies, testimonials, stories and even statements of primatologists who have never had the good fortune to live with these primates, it has been widespread the theory that they are violent, aggressive, intolerant and even dangerous.

I confess that in my early years of life together with them I took a few scares and had minor accidents. However, the mutual relationship was being built and they did not know me enough, and I did not have the necessary skills to understand them.

Today this has changed, so I decided to write down my opinion, which can be considered exaggerated by those who does not have my experience.

Chimpanzees know that they are strong, far more than any human and can hurt even unwittingly, but with those they trust, they know to behave carefully and won’t play in a way their human friend would not support.

In the case of the chimpanzees who have been raised by us, and have no trace of madness as the adults who came, suffered and bruised by human action, the delicacy in their treatment with us is even more characteristic. The respect they have for me does not exist in the relationship between humans. They see me as a parent and accept all our initiatives and decisions without refusal. I can get in and out of an enclosure in front of them, they will not try to force out to escape, which would entertain them if it is given the chance.

If I nap when I’m with a group, or with some chimpanzee alone, they do not disturb me and patiently wait until I wake up, to play or practice “grooming” with me.

A few days ago I was with Noel, who was the second chimpanzee who arrived as a baby at the Sorocaba Sanctuary, and slept. They have a lot of curiosity about my hearing aids and he took one of them, without waking me. He must have played a bit with it and then left the object with me without spoiling it.

Something similar has also happened to my phone. Years ago they ended up opening and damaging it. Now they do not do this. If they “steal” it at some oversight, I just ask them to give it back and they do.

They care a lot about our health, sneezes, coughs or if we have wounds. They want to see it, take care with their saliva, which they consider to be miraculous to heal wounds. The next day they ask to see again and until it is healed, they do not settle down in their concern.

Days ago, Emilio, who has a big head, decided to stay in the area of ​​the electric fence where he stays with Guga in the mornings I am at the Sanctuary for two days and did not return to the closed area of the enclosure. To punish him so he understands that discipline was important, we did not allow him to go back to the area of the fence while Guga was normally going. When he realized that we were hurt by his attitude and my wife Vanya was playing with Guga, he came with a bunch of grapes and offered her a gift. After that day he did not fail to return to the closed area of the enclosure at the usual time.

There are some chimpanzees I do not visit frequently, and sometimes it takes 2 or 3 weeks fot me to see them, since they are not in my daily work routine in the Sanctuary. When I appear to visit them, their joy and the scandal they do is unbelievable.

I remember a story of Marcelino, son of Tata and Peter, when he was a baby. He asked me to give him my hat and I did it. When Tata arrived, she saw him with my cap and returned it to me, thinking he had stolen it. I decided to give the cap back, in her presence, so that she knew that her son had done nothing wrong.

With Caesar and his sisters – Sofia, Sara and Suzi -, I always brought them out of the enclosure, when they were little, to enjoy a few minutes playing in the woods, or in the house where they spent their first months of life. After that I always took them back to her mother, Samantha, and to his adoptive father Jimmy. They never thought I was taking them out of their home, and the relationship with their parents maintained the same level of respect and affection.

In cases of the runaways that happened in these 15 years, when I was present I always followed the fugitives in their travels around the Sanctuary visiting the colleagues, and took them back to their enclosures, using various methods, and they never endangered my safety. On the last flight of Caco – there was 10 years since the last time I entered his enclosure -, he greeted me as a friend and asked me to take him back to his room, since he could not jump over the fence.

I admit that years ago, when I entered the enclosures of some chimpanzees, I felt some fear, of unexpected reactions. But today I feel more secure in their company than with many humans. Chimpanzees are very sentimental, know how to love, hate, have extreme jealousy and can change their behavior at a glance, but when they know you and trust you, you will never be in danger with them, since they know how to control their primitive and spontaneous spirit, and give you the security that you appreciate when it gets to live with them.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International