{"id":4597,"date":"2016-02-22T11:40:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T11:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailydigest.com\/?p=4597"},"modified":"2016-02-22T11:40:40","modified_gmt":"2016-02-22T11:40:40","slug":"ponso-the-chimp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailydigest.com\/ponso-the-chimp\/","title":{"rendered":"Chimp Who’s Been Alone For Years Welcomes First Guest With A Huge Hug!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2013, Ponso the chimp<\/strong><\/em> was one of twenty\u00a0chimpanzees – all aged between around seven and eleven years old – who were relocated to a very small island off the Ivory Coast in West Africa, effectively abandoned. Why? Well,it was all part of some\u00a0testing that was carried out by the New York Blood<\/a> Center<\/strong><\/em>. For medical research.\u00a0Eleven of the poor chimps died after just a few\u00a0months after being\u00a0relocated. Some were moved again. Soon, Ponso was alone.<\/p>\n

Due to his past, you’d think that Ponso would dislike humans. Or at least be skeptical of them. And ‘The Loneliest Chimp In The World’<\/em> <\/strong>probably would, if it wasn’t for his friend Germain, the only human he’s had any contact with since his abandonment. Germain was also Ponso’s only source of food<\/a>, when he’d turned up with bananas and bread.<\/p>\n

Below we see his first guests visiting him and getting a surprisingly warm reception.\u00a0Estelle Raballand<\/strong><\/em>, the director of the Chimpanzee Conservation Center<\/strong><\/em>, didn’t know if she’d be greeted in a friendly way, but was pleasantly surprised. There’s now an ‘SOS Ponso’<\/strong><\/em> campaign in motion to help move him to an area with other chimps. Here’s hoping.<\/p>\n