Gut Aiderbichl ´s Sanctuary for Traumatized Chimpanzees and other ...

Chimp SUSI
The Moritz Group, aka Group of Ten. Outdoor Enclosure D.
Our chimp Susi was born in 1974 somewhere in Africa. She already arrived at the
research lab in 1976. She is now aged 37 years and has not been outdoors for
33 years. When she joined the Moritz Group, she first had to learn to forget. She
was used for hepatitis research. And always kept in isolation. What would she do,
we wondered with some concern, when the gates to the outdoor enclosure were
open How would the older, traumatized chimp deal with this We watched spellbound.
A miracle happened. She stepped upright into the enclosure – towards the
sun, like a symbol of gratitude and dignity. And we were even more sorry at the
thought of the chimpanzees maybe having to leave planet Earth, perhaps in the
next decade if nothing is done. That’s the last curtain call to our nearest relative –
primates like the ape.
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