We used to call them like that, throughout more than six years of conversation, bureaucracy and permissions of a lot of state departments in Argentina and Brazil. The three of La Plata belong to a family of chimpanzees that had caretaker Martin Davids dedicated to for a long period of his life, to keep them alive and healthy in a zoo that never built a proper enclosure for them.

The three of La Plata used to share the enclosure with other two chimpanzees, but they could not live together. They were divided in two groups to use the external area during the weekdays. When a group was kept inside for several days, because the others did not want to get locked, the hygiene and adequate handling became a problem.

Martin Davids told us that, luckily, he was able to enter and deal directly with the chimps to clean everything, one thing that no other caretaker does, due to security reasons. Martin visited the Great Apes Sanctuary of Sorocaba in 2014 and bellow we reproduce our talk with him (in Spanish):

Anami Institute, affiliated to GAP Project, has been working for more than six months to put in practice the release of the three chimpanzees to its sanctuary in Paraná, south of Brazil.

This finally comes to a happy end on January 23rd, when a airplane will bring Punia, Pweke and Zuri to Brazil, to be integrated to the other 20 chimpanzees who already live in the sanctuary, which provides the best captivity facilities that can be find in the world.

Ana Selles Starostik, founder of the sanctuary, together with her husband Milan Starostik, who recently passed away, fulfill a promise: do not give up until the chimpanzees would be able to enjoy a fair and decent life, never experienced before.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
General Secretary – GAP Project International