The 13 chimps living at the Fauna Foundation have personalities as strange and complex as their many travelled lives. Here are some of their stories.

Donna Rae (Ch-304)

A social chimp with a powerful personality, 36-year-old Donna Rae spent the first 12 years of her life in a circus, where she learned to ride bicycles and play the guitar. She was then sold to LEMSIP, where she was named Ch-304. When Jane Goodall visited Fauna, she suggested that Donna Rae be given a guitar, to see if she’d be interested in playing with it. She smashed it to pieces.

Rachel (Ch-514)

The chimp at Fauna with the most signs of emotional trauma, Rachel’s life has been bizarre in a sense that would be comical if her wounds weren’t so apparent. Born in 1982, Rachel was adopted by a Florida couple who believed they could repopulate the chimp species on their five-acre farm. For a few years, life was like a ’50s Bonzo movie: bubble baths, frilly dresses. When the couple divorced Rachel was sent to LEMSIP.

Binky (Ch-665)

One of the Fauna’s younger chimps, Binky is somewhat of a rascal, prone to picking on older fellas like Billy Jo (who will often be defended by the Foundation’s other youngster, Jethro). Binky was born at LEMSIP and was lucky enough to be able to leave at a young age.

Billy Jo (Ch-447)

Born in 1968, Billy Jo also got his start in show business alongside fellow Fauna denizen Sue Ellen. Big, toothless and prone to anxiety attacks, Billy Jo nonetheless enjoys some of the finer things in life, like Victoria’s Secret catalogues. An avid TV watcher, Billy Jo’s a big fan of Oprah.

Anna (Ch-272)

The late Anna was born in 1959 in Africa and brought to the U.S. where she served in the circus, then at a lab as an experimental subject and artificially inseminated breeder chimp. At Fauna, Anna’s role was that of the “alpha chimp,” the sort of head of the clan. The emotional impact of her death in January (of a ruptured intestine) can still be seen among her fellow chimps and the staff of Fauna. :

For more information about individual chimps, check out the Fauna Foundation’s Web site at www.faunafoundation.org.
-M.S.

Wild kingdom >> Other animals at Fauna