Chimpanzee

HI, MY NAME IS ÀFRICA

Date of birth: between 1997 and 1999
Place of birth: Senegal, Guinea-Bissau or Guinea Conakry
Date of arrival at MONA: May 28, 2009

Subspecies: Pan troglodytes verus

When she was very young, she was captured in the jungle and illegally brought into Spanish territory on a boat. She arrived at the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with three other infants, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. She was bruised and had blows on her face and back. A private individual decided to “save” her and took her in to take care of her, without knowing what it meant to have a wild animal at home and the difficulties that both she and her family would go through.

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ABOUT ÀFRICA

Her past

When Africa began to approach adolescence, her life among humans became impossible. She even attacked the women of the house. For this reason, her owners kept her locked up most of the day in a room they built on the roof. Due to complications with a head wound, when she arrived at MONA she was completely bald and covered in scabs from forehead to shoulders. Her owners had gone to several zoos for them to take her in, but because she was rejected of her aspect. She also had hairless areas on her hands, feet, arms… where she would pull out her hair due to stress or boredom. Finally, the hairloss on her head was not serious at all and with treatment several times a day, her hair soon started to grow back again.

When we started integrating her into the group, she was so afraid of the other chimpanzees that she would scream non-stop and even vomit on occasions.

Àfrica will never be alone again

Relaxaded appreciating the beauty of a dandelion

Her present

Once the integration problems overcomed, she seems to be afraid of nothing or anyone. The change came suddenly. In one of the associations instead of reacting with panic towards a female who frightened her, she greeted her effusively. From there and then, she perfectly masters the mysteries of social life.

She has the gift of always getting what she wants from others, if necessary manipulating her fellows, and tends to be quite exaggerated about everything. She is the “drama queen”!

Her social life

She is happy since she understood that she is not human and feels that she is part of her species. She is very affectionate, always seeks the company of her fellows and is an expert in alliances. She is gifted at establishing social relationships that benefit her.

Àfrica likes

  • Enrichments

    She is the great expert, especially in those that require the use of tools, ingenuity, and patience.

  • Food

    As long as it's not melon, egg yolk or meat... although, she prefers things that aren't too difficult to chew, because she is missing a lot of teeth.

  • Naping under the sun

    All year round, whether it's cold or hot, if there's anyone in the sun, it's very likely to be Africa.

Anecdotes

She is very small, only weighing 36 kg, but she is able to keep the peace among males that are twice her weight!

Anecdotes

She is a specialist in detecting medications (antibiotics, dewormers… Whatever!) so she actively promotes the imagination of caregivers to find new and varied administration possibilities.

Àfrica's group: Mutamba

Àfrica

Àfrica

Taken from the jungle as a baby, smugglers abandoned her to her fate in a cage at the port of destination.

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Waty

Waty

La vam rescatar del Circ Mundial Italià, estrella principal d’un dels seus espectacles amb animals.

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Marco

Marco

TV star, he lived more than 8 years locked up in a truck.

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Juanito

Juanito

He arrived when he was one year old and his integration into the group was recorded by National Geographic cameras.

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Bongo

Bongo

Rescued from the circus at the age of two, he arrived very thin and with a great fear of physical contact.

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