She had been living in this box since she was a newborn baby.
One day, a team of rеscuеrs from Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection came across a sad sight. They received an anonymous tip about a chimp who was in trouble.
They went to the supply shop where she was being held and found the tiniest baby chimp sitting inside a cardboard box, clinging to a tattered piece of clothing.
The one-year-old chimp, named Chance, was being kept as a pet for the past few months. The rеscuеrs didn’t know how the ‘owners’ acquired Chance, but they had an idea.
“We know her mother was kiIIed,” Jenny Desmond, founder of LCRP, told The Dodo. “One cannot acquire a baby chimpanzee without first kiIIing his or her mother and other nearby adult family members.”
Since Chance was just a baby when her mother was kiIIed, she had no one to properly take care of him and provide her the nutrition he needed.
Sadly, her new owners didn’t seem to care and just left her in a cardboard box in the corner.
“It seems she spent most of her time in the box, and when outside the box, on the concrete and dirt ground at the shop,” Desmond said. “It does not seem she was picked up or held very often as she has had to learn how to be picked up and cling to me since we rеscuеd her.”
It was apparent that living in captivity had taken a serious toll on the baby chimp.
Rescuers said that her eyes appeared vacant and she was clinging to a piece of clothing as a source of comfort.
“Her rocking and clinging to the cloth are clear indicators of stress, trâumа and a severe lack of attention and nurturing,” Desmond said.
Chance’s owners had only been feeding her rice and cornmeal, so she was severely malnourished and emaciated. Not only was she underdeveloped for her age, but she appeared to have some sort of fluid build-up in her head that most likеly resulted from trâumа.
The rеscuеrs quickly removed Chance from the shop and gave her a nice warm blanket to hold onto instead.
“We give all the little ones blankets at night and they are certainly welcome to carry them anytime,” Desmond said. “It is generally our experience, however, that their need for the blankets as unhealthy sources of comfort disappear rapidly with increased care and proper nurturing.” Once the baby girl was transported to the LCRP rehabilitation center, the rеscuе team was stunned at her amazing change in behavior and attitude.
It’s been a few years since Chance was rеscuеd, and she’s still very happy at the rеscuе. She has a playgroup of chimps that she loves hanging out with, and she also enjoys spending time cuddling with her caregivers. What a sweetheart.