Chimpanzee
HI, MY NAME IS NICO
Date of birth: October 20, 2000
Place of birth: in captivity, Valencia, but his family comes from Equatorial Guinea
Date of arrival at MONA: March 31, 2004
Subspecies: Pan troglodytes troglodytes
He was born in a broken-down truck in Valencia, where his parents had been living a miserable life locked up for years. His former owner soon separated him from his mother to begin training him for use in television programs.
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ABOUT NICO
His past
He arrived at MONA at just three years of age, but with a long list of experiences behind him that he certainly did not like to go through. He had serious psychological problems, which led him to self-harm his left hand for two years to get the attention of his keepers. At the end of 2005 we detected that he was the first non-human primate to suffer from Chiari Malformation, a disease classified as rare in humans. At the beginning of 2006, the team of neurosurgeons leaded by Dr. Rimbau and Dr. de la Fuente successfully operated him at the Canis veterinary clinic. Since then Nico’s condition has improved a lot. Once he recovered, his group welcomed him perfectly and he stopped asking for attention from humans. But he did not stop having wounds, because even though he stopped self-harming since his operation, he also has hydrosyringomyelia associated with his pathology, which in his case means that he does not feel pain in his limbs. As a result of his injuries, the amputation of his fingers (except for the thumb) was inevitable due to irreparable self-inflicted damage. Since then, he has had a peculiar way of moving, but despite his physical difficulties, he keeps going.
Nico when he arrived at MONA at the age of three
He's grown up, but he still has that special look
His present
We would love to be able to say that he no longer has any problems, but his disease is chronic and degenerative. So he needs more attention from the team, who look after his health and well-being. Unfortunately, he still has injuries sometimes, but he is very cooperative when it comes to treatment with the keepers. And, thanks to them, he can continue with his peculiar chimpanzee life. He likes to display his strength to the males of the other group, but in general you could say that he is an affable chimpanzee, who is never in a bad mood and tries not to get into trouble. He gets along very well with his family and is affectionate with everyone, be they chimpanzees or humans.
His social life
His group has a vague hierarchy. Some days it seems like Nico will be the new alpha male, but most of the time he doesn’t seem to care about power plays and is only interested in eating and enjoying life peacefully in the company of his friends.
Nico likes
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The tube
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Enrichments
When Nico was reunited with Romie, we all hoped that they would rediscover their mother-son relationship, but they were separated when he was so young that they didn’t recognize each other. Either way, they had a really nice relationship here at MONA.
When he meets new chimpanzees, at first he is not as friendly as usual and tries to intimidate the newcomer with displays of strength. But he soon becomes satisfied with his performance and is a very sociable and harmless chimpanzee.
Nico's group: Bilinga
Nico
He is the first non-human primate diagnosed with Chiari Syndrome and this makes him very special.
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Victor
At MONA he finally learned to live with others of his species, after 24 years alone.
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Tom
He was bought from a circus when he was about ten years old because he was no longer fit to perform.
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Cheeta
She impresses everyone who meets her. She is a huge chimpanzee, even larger than many males, but with a very sweet face.
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