Meet Spock.What a gorgeous face. I have had an opportunity to shoot him on a few occasions and he is delightful to spend time watching. Spock will use a utensil if he is given food in a bowl. He also prefers cooked food.  This struck me as odd at first, but one of the things I have come to learn from the remarkable caregivers at Fauna is that if the chimp grew up with certain foods or behaviors, then it is something that often needs to continue for them to help manage their transition to sanctuary care. Sadly, as Spock was brought up human, not chimp (part of an experiment to treat chimps like human children) it makes sense that he learned to eat cooked food and to use utensils.

Check out faunachimps.tumblr if you want to learn more about these remarkable animals.

faunachimps:

Oh Spock-you take our breath away !

Born in captivity on February 9, 1976, in Norman, Oklahoma, Spock was sold to The University of Montreal to be raised as a human child as part of a research study.

With no chimpanzee mother of his own, he had to trust a human mother. He grew very close to other chimpanzee children in his human and un-natural environment but as usual with this kind of cross fostering experiment, when the research ended his fate included separation from the humans he grew to know and love.

He was then sent to a zoo to live “on exhibit” as part of the “animal collection” for the next 25 years until his rescue by Fauna.  He lives in peace now and is quite a personable and affectionate guy. He enjoys the company of other chimps and is often found grooming and attending to his companions. 

Please visit us and read more about Spock-we know you will be as enchanted by him as we are!

http://www.faunafoundation.org/html/spockprofile.html