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Precious

Precious July 2021

Precious is known for her love of food above all else! Even when the other chimps in her group are involved in drama, Precious can often be seen calmly eating while the chaos unfolds around her. Recently, Marlon tried his luck taking Precious’s fruit, but Precious refused to let go. She held his gaze steadfast and kept her hand on her fruit to let him know she was not going to let him steal any, which was a big win as Marlon usually gets his way when he wants to steal food from another chimp! 

Precious is one of the older chimpanzees at Project Chimps. She has a chronic kidney disease that will require a little extra attention from the care team. We will need to ensure she stays fully hydrated and keeps up her weight. Precious continues to be her stubborn, cranky, but lovable self. We have been working on finding the way to her heart through juice. The best way we can support her ongoing care is to ensure she drinks plenty of fluids and she likes to keep us on our toes on what she’ll drink, how she’ll take it, and even who from. 

She has been spending time with Jurita recently and they together enjoyed watching the “wacky waving inflatable man” staff setup outside their villa window for enrichment. 

Chimp Chatter Featuring Precious

Celebrating PRECIOUS’s 34th birthday! 

December 23, 2024

As a dignified old lady, Precious isn’t willing to compromise her time or energy. She’s also not afraid to let staff know when she’s annoyed!

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Why human oriented isn’t always good for chimps 

August 20, 2023

We have “chimp chimps” and “human oriented chimps”. Chimp chimps prefer interacting with their fellow troop members over interacting with human caregivers. Human oriented chimps like to focus their time and energy on human caregivers.

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The Role of “Auntie” in Female Chimps

May 2, 2022

Chimps have these ambiguous female figures too! Growing up without their mom, our orphaned lab chimps rely even more heavily on the guidance of older influences.
Older female chimps who take young female groupmates under their metaphorical wing, I call “aunties.” But really, they’re just old ladies showing young girls the ropes.

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Health Update: Precious (Nov 2020)

November 30, 2020

Precious arrived in sanctuary in 2018. During her exit exam from the New Iberia Research Center, her diagnostics showed that she was in the early stages of chronic kidney decline. We vowed then to offer Precious whatever she needed to be comfortable in sanctuary as her condition progressed.

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Luke discovers his hidden musical talent

April 12, 2020

This past week, we brought an electric piano into several of the villas for the chimps to investigate if they chose to. Some chimps, like twins Buttercup and Charisse, were immediately interested and could not wait to tap out a few notes. Others, like Emma, were more interested in trying to take it apart. And then, there was Luke. Who was simply waiting to show off his hidden musical talent!

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Precious FACTS

Female

Date of Birth

12/23/1990

Arrival Date

08/29/2018

Fun Facts

  • Precious was the first in her group to go outdoors in the Peachtree Habitat.

Favorite Things

Precious currently thinks walnuts are the best reward for cooperating with her medical training.

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YOUR SUPPORT

MAKES A DIFFERENCE

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This project would not be possible without our many generous individual supporters and volunteers. We rely on donations to fulfill our mission, including caring for our existing residents and expanding the sanctuary to accommodate those chimpanzees still waiting in the lab.

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