Chimp Eden

"Jane Goodall" has spent nearly thirty years living and working among Chimpanzees in Tanzania and is one of the world leading "scientists" in the field of chimp behavior and capabilities.

She has travelled many African countries to rescue chimps that have been taken out of their habitat for "human" reasons being looked upon as cute cuddle pets until they get too old, circus animals, or even just kept on a leash as an attraction in bars and at gas stations.

It is devastating hearing what some of these chimps have been through and what is even more sad is that Chimps are one of the closest animals to human beings, sharing some of our DNA. A grown chimp has about the same brain capacity as at least a six year old child and a male grown chimp has the strength of six grown men - hence all my pics are from beyond a fence!

You can not imagine that a human can be so cruel to something so close to his own image...

The chimps at Chimp Eden have been rehabilitated by a fantastic team of people in large natural enclosures where they can once again be free like they would have been in the wild. But with a couple of added advantages like being fed fruit and macadamia nuts five times a day, cosy enclosures where they can sleep nice and snug and being monitored for any illness.

Do not miss this attraction when in the Mpumalanga area as all the proceeds goes back to the chimps and who wouldn't want to duck behind the green nets much to Cozy's delight when he decides to through you with a macadamia nut:)

(Cozy was kept by a gypsy traveling along the road and used him to perform tricks and make money. Instead of getting him to do tricks and rewarding him with some fruit etc. she took a different course of action and beat him repeatedly over the head if he didn't perform, leaving him with brain damage. He is not your usual chimp and you will have to hide one's he decides to show you who's boss as he flings macadamias and rocks at you... We do love the interaction though!!!)

The oldest guy around! At about sixty, I think he looks fantastic for his age:)