I will never forget the evening my husband arrived home sitting in the back of the car with Shemesh held in his arms. I was standing in the entrance of our house waiting, full of anticipation for something that I had been dreaming about since I was a child - a chimpanzee.
I had first met Shemesh, which means "Sun" in Hebrew, a week before in August 1998 in Yaounde. Around 3 years old, she was tied by her leg to a tree in a back yard, with scarring on her waist from the rope. Despite this, she had a beautiful smile.
I was told of an English man who had arrived in Yaounde to rehabilitate the local zoo and establish a Chimpanzee and Gorilla Sanctuary. I arrived at the zoo with Shemesh in my arms, there I met Christopher Mitchell, who welcomed us with open arms and a warm heart. We knew we had a place where we belonged.
Shemesh's day
Every day Shemesh escorted me to the office I had been working in at the Israeli Delegation. She was spending her time jumping on the keyboard and playing around. In the afternoon we arrived at the zoo to play with the chimpanzees there.
At night Shemesh would sleep in our room, where she would randomly change between hugging me and my husband. Shemesh became part of our family, and our home, and she knew every part of the house. She understood what we were saying and I learnt to understand her language. Shemesh accompanied us in our tours around the Country, but most of all she liked to go to the beach to play with the sand, although she was afraid of the water and waves.
Despite this, taking a bath was one of her greatest pleasures. She liked lathering herself in soap then rinsing with water, and she learnt to brush her teeth and to use the toilet. At night she would wake up and open the kitchen cupboards helping herself to the powdered milk that she would add water to. In the morning when we awoke, we would find milk powder in our bed and the furniture had signs of her night celebration.
For two and a half years we enjoyed this closeness, but the day after Christmas 2000, Shemesh refused to go to the zoo. On Christmas day, there had been many visitors to the zoo, mainly children who made a lot of noise and scared the chimpanzees. It became clear that we had no choice, we had to move her to Mefou, where Chris was setting up a sanctuary.
Moving to Mefou
At the beginning she moved into an area separate from the other chimpanzees with Ernest, her keeper. We sent her mattress, her blankets, her bottles and her toys.
A few days later she moved into the enclosure with the other chimpanzees. She was accepted by the group and immediately became leader. A few nights later she abandoned her mattress and took to the trees where she made herself a nest.
A Dignified end
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Shemesh with Avi Sivan,
cwaf's director |
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Unfortunately on May 12th 2001 Shemesh died. She fought bravely and with courage against a long-term illness but on May 12th, 2001 it was decided for her to die peacefully and painlessly back in her home surrounded by her human family, Cwaf's director Chris, and most importantly, Talila. Shemesh, spent the last months of her life back in her forest home where she had the freedom to climb, play, sleep and feed in the trees as it was always meant to be. Her exceptional cleverness and loving caring nature instantly made her a leader, mother and friend to all chimpanzees, and meant that she touched the hearts of all she met.
