When Marco, our #ApeSpotlight for November first arrived at the sanctuary nearly 10 years ago, he had not seen another chimpanzee for more than 35 years, having lived alone in a So. Carolina backyard cage when his circus days as a performer were over. After he was moved to the Center for Great Apes, Marco was slowly introduced to several chimpanzees here, but because of his lack of experience and unusually small size, he was very frightened of the other chimps and screamed a lot. Even with some very gentle chimpanzees like Grub and Roger, Marco was afraid of them because they were so much larger than he was. But, happily Marco finally found a best friend in Butch, another older wild-born chimpanzee with a circus background. In their first two weeks together, they were a little stand-offish with each other, but Marco did not seem frightened. Then, one day, a large group of elderly ladies visited the sanctuary, and something about their white hair seemed to startle both chimpanzees! Butch and Marco ran to each other for comfort, hugged each other, and then began grooming each other! Today, these two dear old boys (now 55 and 43) have been constant companions at the sanctuary for nearly a decade now and spend their days strolling in the chutes together, relaxing, and still grooming each other.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 17:28:56 +0000
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