![]() ![]() Youbi and I formed a bond like no other I have ever experienced. We would inject protein powder and iron supplements into all her food and after a few days she had the strength to move about the room. For the next couple of days, I was tasked with feeding her, giving her her medicine, and providing enrichment. That transfusion worked wonders! It was as if with every drop of blood, Youbi regained a little bit of life back. ![]() Chimpanzees are about four times stronger than the average person, so despite the extreme level of malnutrition/weakness she was in, it still took all the strength I had, plus that of another staff member to subdue Youbi while she received the transfusion. Instead, some of the staff and I had to hold her down using our own strength. ![]() We gave Youbi the transfusion, but were unable to anesthetize her fearing she wouldn’t wake up from anesthesia. Rebeca Atencia, the head veterinarian selected Tchamaka as the donor, a strong, beautiful male chimp that lived at the sanctuary. Youbi required an emergency blood transfusion. She was severely malnourished and anemic, as we soon found out. I remember the first time I saw her, she looked so tiny and fragile, could barely move and was basically a bag of bones. One evening, the sanctuary was on high alert as we were to receive a new chimp from another sanctuary. Some of the chimps I connected to most were Alex, Mbebo, Betou, Lemba, Lounama, Falero (the baby of the bunch), and my favorite gal, Youbi. In time, I came to know every single one by name and learn about their unique personalities. Every morning I would start my day by walking around the sanctuary to say good morning to the chimps. The friendships I made, both human and non-human, were what got me through those initial tough times. Thankfully, I was somewhat proficient in French, and this helped me to communicate with my Congolese colleagues.ĭespite all the personal challenges, the good definitely outweighed the bad. This was difficult because not many of them spoke English, so I had to overcome a cultural and language barrier. Another big challenge I faced was communicating with the sanctuary staff. I taught myself many things, such as how to work a portable autoclave, how to make my own cell culture medium, and even some basic microbiology from old books the vet kept in the lab. I had to push myself out of my comfort zone like never before. However, I wasn’t about to let the opportunity of a lifetime go to waste, so I tried to make the best of the situation. Being the first student they had ever hosted only further complicated the situation as there was not a fully established program yet. I even got to observe a collaring procedure on a Mandrill in the middle of Conkouati Douli National Park–quite literally in the middle of the jungle!ĭespite the incredible experience I ended up having, the first two weeks in Congo were quite difficult for me I was alone, inexperienced, and thousands of miles away from home. Rebeca Atencia while she treated several chimpanzee patients and more. In the end, I ended up assisting in several mini projects such as taking measurements of chimpanzees to create a morphometric index to establish malnutrition parameters, taking water cultures of all the sanctuary’s faucets to ensure the water given to the chimps was properly sanitized, shadowing Dr. This wasn’t exactly what I ended up doing during my time at the sanctuary but I still go a lot out of the experience. This data would then be used to improve husbandry and rehabilitation practices. The original project consisted of looking at the cortisol levels of chimpanzees to evaluate at which point in their rehabilitation process they were most stressed. Things can change on the fly so you have to be flexible and roll with the punches. I learned right off the bat that no amount of planning will ever prepare you for a field experience like this. Needless to say, this was not the ideal way to start off my experience in Congo and I would be lying if I said my anxiety wasn’t at an all time high at the thought of having the entire project relying on me. Camila in the Noumbi River in Conkouati-Douli National park en route to a Mandrill release site ![]()
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