She arrived at the Sanctuary in 2007, along with Táta and Peter. They had been living in a zoo in Fortaleza, northeast of Brazil, where they suffered greatly, especially after the zoo closed and fell into a precarious situation. They even experienced food and water shortages. Additionally, they lived in an enclosure with little shade, forcing them to stay in the heat and suffer from thirst.

When Judy arrived at the Sanctuary, she had dental problems and her left cheek was swollen. In fact, she was already extremely debilitated, suffering from diabetes, arthritis, and heart failure. She was constantly and carefully monitored by the Sanctuary team, but on 06/01/2015, she did not survive and was found lifeless in her enclosure’s dormitory.

The rescue story of Peter, Judy, and Tata began in the early 2000s when the Bwana Park Zoo, in Rio de Janeiro, was closed by Ibama amid a scandal of dead animals and mistreatment. The group of chimpanzees living in this zoo was then composed of 4 individuals – including Vitória, who was transferred to the Great Apes Sanctuary of Paraná before the others. Peter, Judy, and Tata were supposed to be transferred to the Sorocaba Sanctuary after the zoo in Rio de Janeiro closed, but for some unknown reason, they ended up being sent to the zoo in Fortaleza.

Finally, in 2006, the zoo in Fortaleza was permanently closed, and the chimpanzees were transferred in early 2007.