Charles was born at the Lisbon Zoo, in Portugal. He arrived at the Sanctuary in 2005, following a request from the Ribeirão Preto Zoo (countryside of São Paulo state, Brazil) to offer better living conditions and the possibility of coexistence with other chimpanzees.

Charles was very sociable and affectionate with people he felt close to, but he showed aggressive behavior towards certain individuals he didn’t trust. This indicated the trauma he carried from his life before the Sanctuary, where these people he disliked reminded him of his sad past of mistreatment. He lived for many years with Queenie and Francis. Charles was a very large chimpanzee with an equally big heart in his tenderness.

He passed away in August 22nd, 2015.