Support Spanish Primate Sanctuary

We are so excited to share the news that we welcomed a new resident to the sanctuary in June. His name is Hugo and he is an adult male chimpanzee who suffers from psychological issues. Hugo was previously living in a zoo in France with two female chimpanzees, who will join him once Hugo is settled at the sanctuary. Concerned for his welfare, the zoo contacted MONA because his episodes of self-harm were getting worse. They were unable to determine the trigger of these episodes, so they decided that the best outcome for Hugo would be to relocate him to a quiet sanctuary with fewer visitors. Despite our primate caregiving team having significant experience working with primates with self-mutilation behaviors, they were worried for him because of all the new changes he would face. However, we are so pleased to report that Hugo has had very few self-mutilation episodes and he has now been successfully introduced to most of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary. His best friend is Suzie who arrived in September. They have become inseparable, and most days they can be spotted happily lying in hammocks side by side, never out of each other's sight. Hugo is a gentle giant who enjoys spending time with his best friend Suzie and his other close friend Africa.

Hugo's rescue would not have been possible without your support. Thank you for your generosity, which allows us to care for our ever-growing chimpanzee family.

Here is an update from the team about Suzie, our recent rescue as promised. Suzie has been introduced to all the members of the Bilinga group. She especially enjoys spending time with Tom and being groomed by him. Suzie doesn't know how to groom because of her lack of socialization. As you can imagine, this is a major issue, since may be difficult for her to bond with the others. We are hoping with time that this will change. She is coping slowly with the presence of the rest of the group. This is not surprising, since she is older and has been living alone for many years. Recent news is that she is now spending time with the other females in the group.

Suzie loves eating lettuce and cucumber and basking in the sun in her favorite corner hammock. Her caregivers are collecting feces samples every day so that they can monitor stress (cortisol) levels due to the associations, which will be analyzed in a study together with the faculty of Veterinary of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. It will be very interesting to see how her stress levels change over time. Suzie is also getting accustomed to being weighed by her caregivers. This provides a further measure of her health and well-being. They are conducting associations every day, so it is only a matter of time before she is accepted into the group.

Many thanks for supporting our work.