JOIN DRL IN HELPING PONGO THE ORANGUTAN

DRL had formed a Guardianship Team to help support one of the Orangutans at the Center for Great Apes in Wachula, Florida. Pongo is a shy, gentle giant who was the first ape to be cared for at the center. He was in bad shape, had no hair on his back and what hair he did have was matted and caked with feces. Now he's one of the most handsome, contented apes in the sanctuary. Because he spent so many years in a small cage indoors, he had never seen the sunshine or felt the rain. Now, whenever it rains, Pongo loves to sit outside with his face toward the sky to feel the raindrops coming down.

Our goal is to raise $2,000 for Pongo by his birthday on August 16th. You can contribute to the DRL Guardianship Team by visiting this link: https://bos.etapestry.com/fundraiser/CenterforGreatApes/pongo/donate.do

Please help us to provide for Pongo and the other apes at the Center for Great Apes! For more information on the center you can visit their website at
http://www.centerforgreatapes.org/

MEET GRUB!

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

Grub is an adult chimpanzee at the Center for Great Apes

Born in Los Angeles at an animal trainer's compound, Grub was pulled from his chimpanzee mother and sold to a Florida tourist attraction when he was only a few months old. Now at his permanent home in the Center for Great Apes in  Wauchula, Florida, Grub is a happy and active adult chimpanzee.

Grub eagerly participates in all types of enrichment activities.  He likes to paint and gets very excited when he sees the staff with brushes and canvases.  Grub has created many beautiful paintings and concentrates very hard while he’s painting.  In 1996, he was featured on the NBC Today Show in a story about animals and art.

He also likes facemasks and learned years ago how to make a mask from pieces of paper or cardboard by tearing out two eyeholes.  When Grub particularly likes a volunteer or visitor, he’ll find a piece of cardboard in his enclosure, tear out a mask with eyeholes, and offer it to the visitor.  If no paper or cardboard is available, he’ll find a leaf to make his “mask-gift”!

As enrichment, Grub has learned many signs in American Sign Language and uses them appropriately.  Grub particularly likes dogs.  When the sanctuary's 9-year-old golden retriever was adopted, Grub was very excited to see him, ran over to the edge of the outdoor habitat near the dog, and signed "chase.”  He then ran back to get some primate chow biscuits and tossed them out to the very surprised dog.

Even though Grub is over 145 pounds and his fierce “displays” usually end with him throwing large barrels into the air, he can be extremely gentle.  He interacts daily with the handicapped juvenile chimpanzee, Knuckles.  Grub grooms and tickles Knuckles and seems to know that he’s special.  When Grub once stuck his finger in Knuckles’ mouth (in play)... and received a very hard bite from Knux, he ran screaming and holding his finger, but came right back to Knuckles and gently tickled him again.  If any of the other chimps had bitten his finger, he would very likely have retaliated!

Grub is only one of the many chimps and Orangutans at the Center for Great Apes in Wachula, FLorida. I visited the center on July 1st for a training to be able to work with these intelligent creatures. I look forward to sharing more about them and their stories with you at DRL.