On this February 17th, let’s take today to celebrate our love for our very own Gordo Chimpanzee!
Gordo was born on July 19, 1988 at the aboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) to his mother Andrea and father Les. Through his parents, he has had a few full and half siblings at other sanctuaries, including being half-brother to our very own Dora!
Like the other chimps born at LEMSIP, Gordo’s start to life began with being taken away from his mother shortly after birth and raised in the nursery with other infant chimpanzees and living in a small suspended cage.
When LEMSIP closed in 1996, Gordo and several others were sent to the Wildlife Waystation in Southern California. When he arrived, he lived in a small group including Mave and her longtime cagemate Goliath. According to the records we received, Gordo was separated from the group due to fighting with Goliath and placed in a group with Cy, Rayne, and Lucky, with Terry and Dora joining shortly afterward. This group would remain intact all the way through 2021, when Wildlife Waystation closed and the group, known as the Lucky Six, moved to Washington State to call Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest home.
Though I consistently tell everyone Lucky was the first chimp I met when this group arrived, it was actually Gordo I technically first met. When the ramp of the trailer carrying the chimps came down, we were trying to decide the logistics of who to unload anf bring doors first. When I stepped foot inside the trailer, the first transport cage I walked in front of had a chimp breathy panting and butt pressed up to the caging asking for reassurance. I asked who this was and J.B. replied, “Gordo.” The butt pressed to caging thing hasn’t ended and is a now a classic trait Gordo does when he wants reassurance from the caregivers. This doesn’t happen often. As when he first arrived, Gordo still does prefer the company and attention of his groupmates over the humans’, though now he has definitely opened up more to the humans since.
One of the first things we learned about Gordo was his affinity for boxes.
Gordo has really adopted the mantra of “If I fits, I sits!”
Also, “Even if I don’t fits, I sits!”
How did I end up being the one to write about Gordo? Easy. If there were a personality quiz that lined me up to any of the chimps, I am confident I would align with Gordo more than any other chimp living at the sanctuary. Like to socialize, but also love alone time, especially after socializing. Likes to stay out of drama, but also can’t stop watching drama… and maybe egging it on sometimes depending on mood. Mostly serious, but sometimes goofy. Independent but fiercely loyal. Laugh at our own jokes. Yup. I would definitely align with a Gordo personality trait.
One of the jokes Gordo plays on me is spitting at me at every meal service. I know they’re jokes and not out of anger or spite because Gordo has two very different spits. Similar to several others here, like Foxie, Honey B, and Terry among them, there are two spit settings. There’s the very accurate and small spits. These are attention getters or calls to play. Then there’s the mouthful, high rate, high area coverage types of spitting. These are the ones that show discontent. On average, I would say I get maybe 15-20 spits on average from Gordo and any meal I’m serving.
After serving a meal to Gordo, I usually come out looking like this:
He has remarkable aim, if you’re wondering. He usually runs away chuckling after a spit, usually running away to load up on with more water. To be fair, if the roles were reversed, I would probably do the same to him too because I think he would understand.
Gordo is indeed a funny, funny guy! I am so grateful for the 7 supporters who call him a Chimp Pal! If you would also like to become Gordo’s Pal be sure to sign up! All you support helps provide care for Gordo and the other residents of the sanctuary. I hope through these blogs you get to know Gordo like how I know him!
