AAP saves chimpanzee Mojo from being killed

Chimpanzee spends nearly 30 years in loneliness

Almere, march 21 2011- AAP receives a new resident today: chimpanzee Mojo. The 37 year old Mojo was confiscated from the home of an elderly woman, who kept the animal almost his entire life in a dark, highly polluted garage box. The woman can´t take care of herself anymore, let alone take care of an adult chimp. Because of this, Mojo did not see any daylight anymore, often did not get any food and could only keep himself alive with mouldy and decayed food. Even more tragic is the fact that the woman had decided that Mojo should be killed when she would die.

AAP had been trying for 3 years to rescue Mojo from his perilous condition, in cooperation with the Belgian animal welfare organization GAIA and a private person. A Belgian animal lover found out where Mojo was situated, at the aged woman´s place, and saw that the situation was very serious and alarming. She warned AAP and we put everything into action to make sure that Mojo could be rescued from his perilous and dark housing. A hurry-up was needed, because the woman had already appointed the veterinarian who had to give Mojo a lethal injection when she died, so they could be buried together. She believed that they were destined to be together, despite the fact that she maltreated Mojo.

Keeping chimpanzees as pets at home is forbidden in Belgium, just as it is in The Netherlands. However, it is still quite difficult to confiscate these animals. This is why it took nearly 3 years before Mojo could be rescued out of his misery position in his highly polluted garage. It seems that Mojo has never had any contact with his own species, so AAP will do all that is possible to learn Mojo how to behave like a chimpanzee. Eventually, Mojo will be placed in a good animal rescue centre permanently.

David van Gennep, Director of AAP, comments: “Mojo had to pass his time for almost 30 years in a dark, highly polluted box. Now it’s time for this chimp to learn to behave like a chimpanzee and to live together with his own species. AAP is delighted with the fact that for Mojo everything will be better from now on, because this animal already experienced too much misery in his life”.