Finally Guidage can be a chimpanzee |
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After a stormy 24 hours drive, a special transport arrived at Almere on Wednesday 2 February. Besides David van Gennep and the Head Chimpanzee Care Constantine Kasule, the passengers on the AAP-bus were a chimpanzee and an olive baboon from Lisbon.
In close cooperation with the Portuguese authorities, the 18 year old female chimp Guidage was taken away from a garage workplace, where the animal has lived for most part of her life. The owner decided to hand over the animal voluntarily, convinced that AAP would be able to take better care for the chimp. In spite of this, the seizure gave a lot of trouble. No violent raid by the armed police, something we took into consideration originally, but a long, sad good-bye with tears... The owner really considered the chimp as a child. Guidage will not only be missed by him, but also by her loyal friend, a red-haired spaniel. In Almere, Guidage was examined by the veterinarian and she appeared to be in the pink of condition. The green baboon Andrea too, a lady of around 16 years old, was healthy and well, and had come very well through the trip. A year age, she was given to Monte Selvagem, a park where AAP last summer could give a new home to a big group of pigtail macaques. The cooperation with the Portuguese authorities was so easy, that we spoke about a more structural cooperation. The consequence might be that Portugal finally can make work of the current regulations. With this, a bright future lies ahead for other animals that now have to live in miserable conditions. Footage of the day Guidage was confiscated: 
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Actuel
