D – Day for baby Lynn!

Dear Friends,

 

Some of you already know Lynn was transferred from our house to te sanctuary the other day.

She had indeed arrived several weeks before and had been kept at our place for 2 main reasons: (1.) our quarantine facilities were too cold (it is still winter here in the Southern hemisphere)  and (2. ) a terrible flu outbreak started when Lynn arrived. 

Last Friday was D-day for little Lynn. Papa Marcel did all his best to comfort the baby chimp as Lynn really didn’t understand what was going on…

Once at J.A.C.K., Lynn’s crate was set in front of the nursery group which was extremely surprised to see the new arrival!!!

Lynn was scared and begged Papa Marcel to stay close to her.

Everyone was fed as usual. Lynn also got her milk, but this time, she was alone with Papa Marcel in one of the nursery facilities to discover her new environment…

 Then, the gates were opened and 3 infants of the nursery (who we know are very pacific and love newcomers!) were allowed to come in: Santa, Kimo and Vida. Santa is extremely maternal and hugged Lynn on post. Shortly after, she had to know whether Lynn was a boy or a girl… so, Lynn accepted to be « inspected » by Santa…

This little group had great fun in the morning and later on in the afternoon, Lynn was introduced to another 3 friends: Maïka, Rosie and Bapu and all went well! Lynn is very sociable, loves contact and that is why it was high time she entered the nursery group. We usually have 90 days of quarantine. But, this time, because the newcomer was so healthy and so desperate to be alone, Franck & I along with Vet Jean-Claude decided to shorten Lynn’s isolation period, to do health checks and to introduce her…

On Saturday, I took her all alone in the outside facility so that she could discover her future environment. Lynn was happy to go from trees to trees !!

On Sunday, all the gates were opened and Lynn joined the nursery group outside! Papa Marcel of course was with her and was extremely protective! All went well! Tika as usual behaved as the big brother of the group and understood a new female had been introduced which made of him the happiest chimp of the group!

Lynn at first wouldn’t leave Marcel’s arms when seeing so many chimpanzees around her…

But it was Tommy who stayed close to her and hugged her most of the time… Tommy has become Lynn’s guide and Lynn’s best friend. At night, he even shares his food and nest with her. Isn’t that Friendship???

Lynn is now adjusting very well and her mates of the nursery group do help her a LOT!

Before I end I wish to add one more thing which is very important to Franck and I: if little orphans stay at our place, it isn’t because we want to make pets out of them but because they need full attention that we can’t actually  provide at the complex because we don’t have that many facilities nor so many keepers. Chimps are not pets! We aren’t their mothers and fathers and they aren’t our kids!We do our best to give them a second chance in life as their families have been slaughtered by human cupidity. The aim is to put them back in the forests they belong to and not to keep them in a sanctuary… Franck, the J.A.C.K. team and I have become their surrogate family and we all do our best to make them feel happy!

Thank You

Roxane/J.A.C.K.