Wildlife at Fauna

Early morning at Fauna. Our front pasture full of wild Canada Geese.

Great Gifts for the Chimps/Des cadeaux pour les ch

Special Thank You to all who have donated gifts /Nos plus sincères remerciements à tous ceux et celles qui ont offert des cadeaux..

Christophier Diaz, Taryn Graham, Lise Brais, Mara ScomParin, Tanya McAleer, alise Thibault, Jessica Tremblay, Celine Lavallee, Dawna Killen-Courtney, Shainty Rant, Nathalie Martel

Maya’s first days on the islands / Premiers pas de Maya sur les îles

Maya has been at Fauna for four years now and we are so happy to finally see her out on the islands. She just loves being outside now and has spent a lot of time on the different islands throughout the entire summer.

When Maya first arrived, she was the last of her group to venture out. The first thing she did was to sit on a wooden structure close to the perimeter fencing separating Billy Jo’s Island from Donna Rae’s Island. Maya is a chimp’s chimp, which means she loves to have new friends. She seemed quite interested in the chimps who were on the neighbouring island but she had not been introduced to them yet and we were not sure whether she would try to go visit them on the other island. With some coaxing, she eventually made it in and we decided to wait until she had made more friends and until we felt secure enough to try again.

That day came this past May, when Maya ventured out on the island with Binky and Spock as if she had always been out. This time again, she went to sit close to the fence line between the islands but only to observe her other island neighbours.

Premiers pas de Maya sur les îles

Depuis quatre ans que Maya vivait parmi nous, on ne l’avait pas encore convaincue de s’aventurer sur les îles. Mais, cette année, nous avons enfin eu le plaisir de la voir s’y promener tout au long de l’été.

À son arrivée au sanctuaire, Maya a été la dernière de son groupe à oser sortir. La première fois qu’elle est sortie, elle s’est tout d’abord installée sur une des structures en bois, près de la clôture qui sépare l’île de Billy Jo de celle de Donna Rae. Comme Maya est extrêmement attachée à ses congénères, elle s’est tout de suite intéressée aux chimpanzés qui se trouvaient sur les îles avoisinantes, sans pour autant oser aller les rejoindre. Nous avons donc préféré attendre qu’elle se soit familiarisée avec tout le monde avant de tenter l’expérience de nouveau.

Ce jour-là est venu en mai dernier, alors que Maya s’est aventurée sur l’île en compagnie de Binky et de Spock, comme si c’était la choise la plus naturelle au monde. Fidèle à son habitude, elle s’est assise près de la clôture pour observer ses voisins des autres îles.

Theo our Olive Baboon / Notre babouin Theo

Room Enrichment after cleaning / Les activités d’enrichissement après le nettoyage


Baboons and other Monkeys do not like direct eye contact, it is perceived as a threat.Here Theo caught us looking at him, that is the reason for the wide eye direct look. He is challenging us , therefore we simply shift our eyes to another location and he is fine and continues on with his game. / Les babouins et les autres singes se sentent menacés lorsqu’on les regarde droit dans les yeux. Quand Theo nous surprend à le regarder directement, il nous lance un regard de défi, les yeux grands ouverts. Dès que nous détournons notre regard, il reprend ses activités.




Having fun totally trashing his new grass, looking for bugs we presume. / Il s’amuse à démolir la pelouse nouvellement installée. Peut-être qu’il y recherche des insectes?
Where are the bugs? / Où sont donc les insectes?
A new place to sit and rest, as well as, showing us his amazing teeth / Un nouvel endroit pour s’asseoir… et nous faire voir ses crocs impressionnants.

From the Chimp House

Here are some pictures of the amazing theme days that Natasha has been putting together these past months..

Voici quelques photos des merveilleuses journées thématiques organisées par Natasha ces derniers mois.

Pool Shark Party /les requins



Space Day / Journée de l’exploration spatiale




Jethro's Birthday "All wrapped up theme" / Pour l’anniversaire de Jethro, une journée «emballante«





Barbie Theme Day with treats /La journée de la poupée Barbie

Our Precious Grub at the Center for Great Apes

Losing one of our great ape residents is the hardest and saddest part of our work in providing sanctuary care for them. This week, our hearts are breaking with the loss of our first chimpanzee resident at the Center for Great Apes - our precious Grub.

Grub was the most wonderful chimpanzee and had many fans and friends, both chimp and human. He passed Tuesday in my arms after a sudden illness that was advanced and terminal. He was 20 years old.

While I know that Grub is not suffering and is out of pain now, my grief comes from a sense of great loss in not having him physically in our lives anymore. But I realize that all the wonderful qualities and intelligence expressed by Grub...along with the joy and sweetness he brought to others... are always in our thoughts and memories and did not pass away with him.

Today, still in the blur of tears and sadness, I want to remember the happiest part of Grub's life and the things that made Grub such a special and dear fellow.

Grub has been in my care since he was 12 weeks old, when he arrived at a Miami tourist attraction in 1991 where I was already volunteering to care for infant orangutan Pongo. As I helped to take care of several infant apes there, I became more aware of issues around the retirement of hand-raised apes used in entertainment and also as pets. It was Pongo and Grub (and concern for their future) who provided the impetus to start a sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees coming out of these situations.

It is because of Grub that over 30 chimpanzees have had a home at our sanctuary over the past 18 years.

Grub grew up with Kenya (now 18), Noelle (17) and Toddy (39). Two years ago, former Hollywood performer Mowgli (12) joined this group and became Grub's best male friend. Grub has lived and played with other chimpanzees here too - Brooks, Angel, Kodua and just recently, Chipper. But, Noelle and Grub had a special bond, and they spent many hours in play and grooming sessions.

His most amazing relationship was with our young handicapped chimpanzee, Knuckles, who arrived at the Center nearly 10 years ago when he was two years old. Knuckles had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and had difficulty walking. Grub, Kenya and Noelle all accepted Knuckles into their group for limited playtimes. Grub was the most gentle with him and seemed to be fully aware of his limitations and specialness. However, when Mowgli joined the group, he was not so gentle with Knuckles and would playfully try to poke him or pull Knuckles' hair through the wire mess when Knuckles visited Grub's group. But, Grub would keep an eye on Mowgli, and if he saw that Mowgli was getting to rambunctious with Knuckles, Grub would either gently put his hand on Mowgli's arm to stop him...or give him a stern eye to warn Mowgli not to touch Knuckles.

Grub's gentle nature was also evident in his love of dogs. As a youngster, Grub grew up around several dogs that lived at the tourist attraction. He giggled in games of chase with the dogs and would be "over the moon" when they licked his face! As he grew in strength, we had to limit his direct contact for the safety of the dogs. Grub had a golden retriever friend in Wauchula (Joe) who was the happy recipient of monkey chow biscuits that Grub would toss to him... and then play "chase" as Joe ran around the outside of Grub's habitat.

While Grub was a well-known chimpanzee artist (once featured on the NBC Today Show) and loved to paint, the most striking activity that most people will remember him for was his penchant for mask-making. He learned to make masks when a volunteer in Miami, made one for him from a paper plate when he was only three years old. He didn't want to wear it...he wanted her to put it on. From that one time, watching the volunteer tear out eye holes, he began to experiment with paper bags, cereal boxes, wrapping paper...and when he couldn't find paper in his habitat, he would pick up fallen leaves and m ake tiny masks from those. His joy seemed to be in presenting these "Grub-masks" to visitors at the Center and watching them wear the masks. In fact, he made a beautiful mask from a red cereal box for Jane Goodall when she visited him in 2005. I will miss those special gifts from Grubby.

In mourning the loss of Grub, we also must celebrate his life and continue to provide a home with quality care for the other 43 chimpanzees and orangutans who are here at the Center now...in large part because of Grub.

I am grateful to all the caregivers, staff, board members, and volunteers who have helped provide Grub and his chimpanzee family with a happy life at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula.

I am also very thankful for all our members and supporters who help make this all possible each year for EVERY great ape at the sanctuary.

With love and in memory of our dearest Grub,

If you would like to make a contribution in memory of Grub, please click here.

Your donation will help continue the care for his chimp family and orangutan friends

and is greatly appreciated.

http://www.centerforgreatapes.org/residents-details.aspx?id=18

Grub – losing a friend - By Gloria Grow

On October 6th I learned of the death of a very dear and special friend, and one of the most remarkable chimpanzees I have ever known. Not only was he kind, sincere, intelligent and oh so very loving, he made us all feel he was our best friend. He had the ability to make you feel special, welcomed, and appreciated, so much like his human Mom, Patti. In so many ways he was just like her, and the world will never be the same without him.

I cannot even begin to imagine what this means to Patti, he was like a son to her and the loss will be great. So many of us in this work have lost amazing chimpanzees in our lives, and we have grieved deeply, in some cases after knowing them for just a short while. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain of losing someone you raised from the time they were a baby, as Grub was. He was a family member, like son, a deep and powerful bond.

I don’t even know what a day in the life of everyone at Center for Great Apes will be like for a long time. Grub was loved and cherished by all around him, Pongo, and Christopher who were raised with him, and to think of what Noelle, Kenya , Toddy, Mowgli the brother he was so recently reunited with, and dear Knuckles will go through is just so painful. It will take a strong group of people to try to console and comfort each other, to help each other go through the grieving process, and to continue to move forward for the living.

Patti wrote that to know Grub is without pain now is most important, and for him surely this is a peaceful and wonderful place, but for those left, it will be awhile before his presence will not be missed.

Dearest Patti, my heart breaks for you, for them and for everyone who knew and loved Grub. He was a true Angel, and he will be deeply missed.

Deepest condolences to my dear friend Patti, all the wonderful caring staff at The Center for Great Apes, and especially to Grub’s immediate chimpanzee family.

“Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” -

Good bye dear friend,
Gloria