Pongo lived for a while at the Paraíso Perdido zoo, in Ceará (northeast of Brazil), the same zoo where Peter, Táta and Judy were exploited before going to the Sanctuary. He was then traded to Belo Horizonte Zoo, where he was poorly allocated, without a proper enclosure and caged. Finally, in 2006, the zoo itself asked for him to be transferred to the Sanctuary.

Because of all the traumas he suffered in confinement, Pongo arrived at the Sanctuary totally disturbed. He hallucinated, talked with his hands and to the walls, attacked all the chimpanzees we tried to put him with and ended up living alone. He was claustrophobic and would never enter a dormitory.

He underwent treatment that included homeopathic remedies and his condition improved a lot over the years.

He passed away in 2015.