Cheeta needs a new family
The MONA Foundation is getting ready to transport Cheeta to its facilities, the only chimpanzee that survived an attempted escape from a zoo in Fuerteventura (Canary Islands).
Cheeta is a female who was born in the wild about 26 years ago and unfortunately fell victim to the illegal trafficking of species. She was sold to a man who used her along with the male chimp King, as photography props making pictures with tourists on the beaches of the Canary Islands.
These two chimps were seized and confiscated by the SEPRONA (Nature Protection Service Nature of the Guardia Civil) and taken to the OASIS PARK in Fuerteventura. At first they lived with the owners of this zoo and when they grew up, they were moved to the park facilities where they joined another chimpanzee named Felipa. Together they formed a family until the 26th of June 2015, when they escaped from their cages. Staff applied the emergency protocol and managed to evacuate all visitors who at that time were in the zoo. Nevertheless, the incident ended with an injured person and the tragic death by gunshots wounds of King and Felipa, Cheeta’s only Family.
Cheeta was also injured, as one of the bullets fired by the Guardia Civil was stuck in the chest cavity near the lungs.
Now her physically recovering and the treatment is working well. She has started to eat again. The psychological recovery will be more complicated as the situation she’s lives will affect her for a long time and the worst is that she no longer has her peers. At the moment the surgeons and veterinarians who have seen her recommend not to intervene her and wait for the bullet to encyst. The OASIS Park owners contacted us because they want the best for Cheeta. Although sad, they know that it is the best that Cheeta can live along with other chimps.
MONA is currently getting ready for the transfer and reception of Cheeta but before we must wait for her to stabilize and do not take any risks during this procedure.
Cheeta will need regular analytics and chest ultrasound,
most likely for the rest of her life.
Anesthetize her often would be extremely risky, therefore we are organizing to have a caregiver who can devote exclusive time to Cheeta and train her to get blood samples and ultrasounds. We have achieved this before with Marco and Nico: when we do ultrasounds they are relaxed at the exit tunnel from their rooms and let Didi, Alba or Cristina with the help of a veterinarian, apply the ultrasound gel on their breasts. They absolutely love to have all the attention focused on them and also, as they always collaborate, in the end they always get a treat.
MONA offers a second chance in life to Cheeta, with spacious and green facilities, a social group of her own kind, professional care, love, dedication and patience during the process of her physical and psychological recovery.
We launch this campaign to collect funds for her rehabilitation and subsequent maintenance for life, as MONA Foundation depends on the help of members, sponsors and donors to accomplish our goals!
So we need help for:
- Cheeta’s maintenance expenses for one year (food, heating, care, etc.)
- Veterinary treatment expenses (due to her health issues caused during the escape)
- Costs to hire an extra professional caregiver to strengthen the team, in order to do veterinary training with her, work on her integration into a group of chimpanzees and taking individual care in her first phase of adaptation.
Note: luckily we didn’t have to add the transfer costs to this campaign, since the Zoo OASIS PARK is taking care of the expenses for it.
Please help Cheeta today by making a donation:
via Paypal
via Justgiving
Bank transfer to LA CAIXA: ES22 2100 3078 97 2100532504 (BIC num: CAIXES BBXXX. If you would like to receive the donation certificate, please send us your name and NIF or NIE to info@fundaciomona.org
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