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KERMIT - DIED AT PPI
Kermit was born in May of 1980 at Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center and along with Darrell, was the first to arrive at the Chimp Center in May of 1983. Kermit was an abnormally large male chimpanzee standing 5’0 and weighing 270 lbs. Because of his massive size the group unquestionably viewed him as the alpha male. He was a laid back, introspective male who often sucked his thumb. One of his favorite things to do was watch movies, most notably The Jungle Book. While watching the movie he would alarm call during scenes when Mowgli, the main character, was in danger and he would often hit the window in front of the TV when the large snake appeared on the screen. Even though Kermit would get absorbed in his movies or TV shows, he always maintained complete awareness the activities of the group and he was extremely observant. He policed the group with perfection and never interjected or reprimanded the other chimps inappropriately. He loved shoes, especially industrial type boots and did what was know as ‘The Kermie-Dance’; he would bounce up, down and all around, laughing hysterically with his caregivers. Kermit was one of the most fair and honest creatures on earth who died an unnecessary death at PPI. He died in his transport cage before even seeing the inside of his enclosure due to a lack of qualified veterinary medical attention. His remaining family members no longer have the strong, fair, generous alpha male whom they needed, respected and loved. Kermit’s death will always have a profound impact on Kermit’s Community, but at least he didn’t have to suffer the horrifying conditions at PPI.
BOBBY - DIED AT PPI
Bobby was born in February 1987. He was privately owned until his arrival at the Chimp Center in 1988. Bobby loved working on his touch-screen computer system more than anything and was the brightest pupil of the group. He would rush to beat all of the other chimps to the door when it was time to work on any task. He would easily spend hours matching pictures of foods, colors, and faces, to English words. Bobby especially enjoyed activities that included interactions with his caregivers; grooming (especially feet), painting, trading trash, patty-cake and giving kisses. Bobby also really liked playing with any plastic toy, such as stackable cups, balls and dolls. He was the most dependant upon his human family members and would spend hours grooming them. He loved hanging out with his little brother and sister, Harper and Emma, grooming and tickling them. He also had a very good relationship with his big sister Sheba and they would always align with each other during group conflict. Bobby was an extremely sensitive chimpanzee and avoided conflict as much as possible, but was always there to defended Emma, Harper, and Sheba when necessary. Bobby was found dead in his enclosure only 6 weeks after arriving at PPI. He suffered a death that easily could have been prevented. He received no medical attention even though he had become lethargic, stopped eating and would not go outside. His weak heart was undoubtedly put under too much stress from the shock of the transition. Having witnessed Kermit’s death, being separated from Harper and Emma, and the loss his caregivers who he looked to for reassurance and comfort led to Bobby’s demise. Bobby was the gentlest soul on earth, whose sensitivity and innocence touched all who knew him.
SARAH - RESCUED & NOW AT CHIMP HAVEN
Sarah was born in Africa probably in 1962. She was taken out of the jungle and brought to the U.S. as an infant. She worked in Dr. David Premack’s Language Laboratory where she famously became one of the first chimpanzees to acquire an artificial language. Sarah is the matriarch and dominant female of the OSU group who takes a long time to accept new people as her caretakers. She has a very strong personality and has grown accustomed to having humans meet all of her needs. At OSU she was the most relaxed and confident of all the chimps, showing the least amount of stress in any situation. She is the most difficult to persuade and would often ‘bargain’ with her caretakers to get what she wanted. Sarah likes to play with clothes and especially likes wearing T-shirts. She enjoys making paintings although she typically eats more paint than she puts on the canvass. Sarah loves to spend time in long grooming sessions with Sheba, Ivy, Emma and her caregivers. She would spend hours at OSU grooming her caretakers in the evening before she went to sleep. Sarah also really enjoys creating elaborate nests with blankets, fire hose, browse and other materials and spends all day relaxing in them. At PPI Sarah has very little to no bedding material. She has had to witness the deaths of Kermit and Bobby and separation from her nighttime companions, Harper and Emma. She lost one third of her body weight in less than 4 months. Sarah was removed from her enclosure with Keeli, Ivy and Sheba and placed with an unfamiliar male in a tiny cage. If she would have remained at PPI should would have never seen Darrell, Harper, Emma Keeli or Ivy again and would have died a premature death. Now she has been happily reunited with her family at Chimp Haven and is back to making very elaborate nests and lounging in them all day.
SHEBA - RESCUED & NOW AT CHIMP HAVEN
Sheba was born in September 1981 and was used by the Columbus Zoo as a PR animal for the first two years of her life. She was also raised by humans and came to the Center in 1984. Sheba appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was the first non-human to have a concept of zero and to add and subtract with Arabic numerals. She is the daughter of the famed Nim Chimpksy. Sheba is a very silly, playful, and active individual who relies on environmental stimulation and engaging interactions with her human caretakers for her emotional health. She is a very sensitive and vocal chimpanzee who can’t rest until everyone in the group is getting along. She enjoys all forms of enrichment and can spend hours flipping through magazines and coloring on the models’ faces with her crayons and markers. She loves dressing in socks and creating garments out of any material. Sheba loves long grooming sessions with Darrell and her caregivers. She is extremely inventive and used an extensive repertoire of communicative gestures to communicate her wants and needs to the caregivers at OSU. Since arriving at PPI she witnessed the death of her two brothers, Kermit and Bobby, Sarah’s removal and the disappearance of Harper, Emma, and Darrell. She had nothing to play with and no mental stimulation besides the extremely negative and stressful effect of the neighboring chimpanzees fighting. She was being out-competed for food by Keeli and Ivy and was almost starved. If she would have remained at PPI she would have never seen Darrell, Harper, Emma, Keeli, or Ivy ever again and would have died a premature death. Now she has been happily reunited with her family at Chimp Haven and i back to her silly self, grooming the males, playing with the youngsters and enjoying her enrichment.
KEELI - RESCUED & NOW AT CHIMP HAVEN
Keeli was born in 1996 at The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Research Center. He came to OSU in 1997 with Ivy and they have been inseparable ever since. As a little boy Keeli was timid, insecure, but very playful. He has now developed into a confident, athletic, adolescent male who challenges authority from chimpanzees and humans alike through increasingly impressive displays. In spite of this he has remained very sweet and loving and often acts silly to elicit smiles from his caregivers. At OSU Keeli’s enjoyed participating in research and getting tickles, especially from Kermit and Bobby. His favorite individuals are Ivy and especially Emma. He and Emma would often be seen rolling around together in one big ball of laughter. He loves to dress up in shirts and wear hats and engages in grooming sessions with his caretakers. Keeli really likes to chew on browse or banana peels, filling his cheeks like a chipmunk. He also likes to dismantle large plastic toys. Now his tickle buddies are dead and he has nothing to play with. He had to witness Kermit and Bobby’s deaths and saw Sarah and Sheba taken away. He didn’t know where his favorite chimpanzee (Emma) or his two brothers Harper and Darrell were for over 8 months. If he would have remained at PPI he would have never seen see Emma, Harper, Sarah, Sheba, or Darrell ever again. Now he has been reunited with his family at Chimp Haven and continued to learn how to be an alpha male from Darrell.
IVY - RESCUED & NOW AT CHIMP HAVEN
Ivy was born in October 1996 at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. She arrived at the Center with Keeli in October of 1997. Ivy is an extremely smart, playful girl whose favorite individuals are Keeli and Harper. She has been Keeli’s constant companion and dislikes being separated from him for long periods of time. She loves to spend time with Harper and together they spent hour’s roughhousing and playing games of tag and chase. Ivy really likes structures that enable her to fly through the air such as fire-hose, rope or tire swings. She is a bit of a rabble-rouser and amuses herself by teasing the other females and testing her boundaries. Ivy is an unusual chimpanzee in that she actually enjoys water. At OSU Ivy would climb into baby pools be filled with water and splash all the other chimps. Ivy had recently reached puberty and it allowed her to truly blossom and be a very sweet and attentive chimp, when she is so inclined. She loves to spend time intensely grooming all of the chimps. Since arriving at PPI Ivy witnessed the deaths of Kermit and Bobby, the removal of Sarah and the disappearance of her beloved playmate Harper. If she remains would have remained at PPI she would have never seen Darrell, Harper, Emma, Sheba or Sarah again. Now she is happily reunited with her family and is back to playing with Harper and learning from the adults.
Harper was born in February 2000 at the University of Texas’s MD Anderson Cancer Research Center. He was rejected by his mother and came to the OSU Chimpanzee Center in June of 2000 with Emma at the age of 4 months. For the first year of his life he (and Emma) never spent a moment away from a human caregiver. He and Emma were raised by their human caretakers for the first 3 years of life, but had daily interactions with the rest of the chimpanzees through the caging. He was easily integrated into the group as a three year old because of his eagerness to be “one of the boys”. He has always been extremely confident and tests his boundaries with both humans and chimpanzees. His ability to quickly master tasks (such as unlocking doors!) makes him a bit mischievous but he remains very sweet. He often seeks affection in the form of kisses, reassuring touches and grooming from his caregivers. He loves climbing trees, playing tag, jumping on a trampoline, and helping caregivers with duties around the facility. Because of the nature of the environment at the Center, Harper interacted with the caregivers outside of the enclosures on a daily basis until the day of his departure. He loves everyone in the group dearly and showed the most affection. At PPI he was separated from the group and moved (with Emma) from place to place on PPI's property including a rat and roach infested concrete cell with no access to the outside where he and Emma lived for two months. He had no trees to climb, no toys to play with and no family to teach him. He was ripped from his family and had he remained at PPI he would have never see Sarah, Sheba, Keeli, Ivy, or Darrell ever again. Now he has been happily reunited with his family at Chimp Haven and is happy to once again be "one of the boys".
EMMA - RESCUED & NOW AT CHIMP HAVEN
Emma was born in June of 2000 at the University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Research Center and was also rejected by her mother, who was very young. She came to OSU in July of 2000 with Harper at the age of 5 weeks. For the first year of her life she (and Harper) never spent a moment away from a human caregiver. She and Harper were raised by their human caretakers for the first 3 years of life, but had daily interactions with the rest of the chimpanzees through the caging. Emma became easily integrated into the group as a 3 year old because of her respect and complete understanding of the social hierarchy. She is an inquisitive and gregarious little girl, who loves to groom Sarah and to be groomed by her caregivers. She is very interested in how mechanical things work, from watches to wrenches. Emma often asked her caregivers about her world using gentle touches or leading them by the hand to the object in question. She would then touch the object until satisfied with the response given. Emma is quite a princess and identifies with the humans in her life as much as the chimpanzees. Up until the day of the transfer Emma still interacted outside of her enclosure with her human caregivers, learning about the world and participating in the cognitive experiments. Her favorite things to do are climbing trees, building nests, playing with Keeli, and grooming Sarah. Now she has no trees to climb or toys to play with. At PPI she was separated from the group and moved (with Harper) from place to place on PPI's property including a chain-link, makeshift cage with a substrate that reached over 100 degrees and an indoor enclosure caked with feces, no ventilation and little light. There were no trees to climb, no toys to play with; had she remained at PPI she would have never see Sarah, Sheba, Keeli, Ivy, or Darrell ever again. Now she has been happily reunited with her family at Chimp Haven, running in the grass, playing with Keeli and Sarah and enjoying being a chimp.
