Chimp Returns Home After 25 Years Of Circus Slavery

by Sherry Morse

A twenty-five year old chimpanzee named Toto who endured decades of cruelty in a Chilean circus has finally found a safe, caring home at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage for abused animals in Zambia. During his years at the circus Toto was chained up all day, every day, in a tiny, cramped cage with bars on the front. The chimp slept under a thin blanket.

His only chance to stretch his legs came before his nightly performances, when he was taken out of his box and led around by a rope attached to a metal collar around his neck.

The long-suffering chimp was forced to drink tea and smoke cigarettes as part of his daily circus act.

After several failed attempts to rescue him, Toto was finally seized in a joint operation by the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture, the Siglo XXI Centro de Rescate Y Rehabilitation de Primates, and Animal Defenders International.

After receiving treatment at the rehabilitation center, Toto found himself headed for sanctuary in Africa, the continent where he had been born, and from where he had been snatched from his family by illegal wildlife traders, twenty-five years ago.

DHL Express-Zambia paid the cost of Toto’s transportation from Chile to the 1100-acre orphanage in Zambia, which houses eighty other apes.

Toto had been denied contact with other chimps during the long years of his circus ordeal.

"Chimps are highly sociable animals, very dependent on their families," said Jan Creamer, a charity worker at the Wildlife Orphanage. "Denying Toto contact with his own species for so long must have been torture for him. It’s like keeping a human in solitary confinement."

When he finally arrived at the orphanage and encountered another young chimp there, Toto’s relief was obvious.

"When a connecting door between their enclosures was opened, Toto threw his arms open and Madonna rushed into them," said Creamer. "They hugged for several minutes and the joy on Toto’s face was clear to see."

Madonna had been rescued from the exotic animal trade in Qatar before being brought to the orphanage.

Creamer hopes that Toto will enjoy his new home in Africa.

"We have worked very hard to give this wonderful animal a new life," she said. "After all the suffering he endured, we can be sure he will live the rest of his days in complete happiness."

Toto and Madonna have stayed together while they are in quarantine, but once they have passed all their health checks they will both be allowed to roam free at the orphanage.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.