Category Archives: My Time with the Chimps

In the early years, Gloria invited some of the lab technicians who used to work with the chimpanzees to visit Fauna. Although these visits were ostensibly for the good of the chimpanzees—some of them had built genuine friendships with the techs—Gloria had an ulterior motive for them. More →

Tom arrived at the Fauna sanctuary in 1997, with a very serious injury on his foot. Just before he’d been scheduled to leave the lab, he’d got into a vicious fight with Billy Jo, during which his foot had been … More →

Early on in the evolution of Fauna, Gloria received some sage advice from Dr. Jane Goodall when the famed primatologist and activist visited the Fauna sanctuary for the first of many visits. “I was so embarrassed,” Gloria says now about … More →

Every summer, to keep the infuriating cockroach populations under control, the Fauna chimphouse is fumigated. Before this can happen, though, all the chimps need to be coaxed outside, where they will live for an entire week on the islands while … More →

Nobody knows where Toby was born. Some say he was wild-caught in Africa, while others say he was born in a zoo in small-town Quebec. Either way, Toby spent much of the first 24 years of his life at the … More →