Dying Chimp Recognizes Old Friend And Her Reaction Is Heartbreaking

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Title: Dying Chimp Recognizes Old Friend And Her Reaction Is Heartbreaking
Category: News
Tags: dying chimp, chimp farewell, burgers zoo, dying ape
Teaser: A dying chimp reunites with a long-lost friend. But is this touching reunion masking a darker side to this story? (-- removed HTML --) (-- removed HTML --)
Article:
When professor Jan van Hooff reunited with a dying chimp he’d known since 1972, the heartbreaking moment was captured on video. Mama, a former matriarch of a colony of chimps at Royal Burgers Zoo in Holland, refused to eat. That is, until she realized the professor was by her side one last time. Sadly, there’s another side to this story here. A story that speaks of animals and endangered species held in captivity.

When …show more content…

But when she did, her reaction was enormously emotional. The old chimp, who lay curled up in a ball on her blanket, reacted with joy after recognizing the professor. She seemed to smile, touch his face and even held the back of his neck, bringing his face closer to hers.
Mama, born in the wild, was the first ever chimp to be raised in captivity according to the Burger’s Zoo. Mama was not only the oldest chimp in the zoo, but also in the Netherlands and Europe. Born around 1957, the female chimp lived first in a German zoo for many years before moving to the Burgers' Zoo with two other females in 1971.
In his book about Chimps, behavioral scientist Frans de Waal described Mama as "the oldest and arguably most dangerous woman in the group." Apparently, she rose to fame because of her dominant disposition and influential role in the chimpanzee group at the zoo. After Mama’s death, De Waal said: "She had an exceptionally strong and dominant personality, so that no man who wanted to come to power could do so around her. She will be sorely missed.” De Wall went on further to say: “I have rarely seen such an admirable character in both humans and …show more content…

But should these animals really be pulled out of their natural habitats for the purpose of entertaining humans? Proponents of zoos and captive breeding programs argue that the benefits outweigh the cons. And one pro is definitely preservation of dying species. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF reports the rapid loss of species we are seeing today is estimated by experts to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times greater than the natural extinction rate (if we humans were not around). This means between 10,000 and 100,000 species are becoming extinct each year! That pretty