Care for Orphan Chimpanzee in Senegal

I was lucky enough to be able to visit with Toto briefly at the beginning of January, when I spent a week at my study site in Senegal to see how things are going. We have a period in which we quarantine ourselves (for a two-week period) following international flights, so that I was unable to interact with Toto since the appropriate amount of time had not passed. However, I was able to visit him and observe him briefly as well as speak with his main caretaker. Of course, Janis Carter is his official caretaker, and he is constantly being monitored regarding his health and development. 

Toto is now one year and four months old, and he is VERY healthy! In terms of size, he is the same size as the five-year old wild infant "Cy" in my Fongoli study group. This year, Toto will theoretically be able to survive on his own, by eating foods that wild chimpanzees do, even though infant chimpanzees in the wild usually nurse for around four years. Reintroducing Toto to his natal group or to another group in Senegal are definite possibilities that we have in mind for Toto's future, but there are also other possibilities, such as sending him to an established chimpanzee sanctuary or perhaps building a chimpanzee sanctuary in Senegal for the handful of captive chimpanzees in this country that are in the zoo in the capitol city of Dakar. 

Toto is adept at climbing now and sometimes walks bipedal - likely because all of his role models in recent history have been humans! We hope to be able to soon introduce Toto to members of his own species but of course do not want to do so before he is ready. Given his rapid development, we are hopeful that he will be a dominant force in any group to which he is introduced! Without your kind contributions, we could not have taken in this orphan and cared for him as we have. Please stay tuned for more news of Toto's future!