Today we continue our Valentine’s series with some love for Mave.
Mave was born on September 25th, 1989 to mother, Lulu, and father, Conrad, at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). She is half-siblings with own very own Terry, whose father was also Conrad. We didn’t know this at first but should have guessed by the floof alone. I can only assume Conrad was rather hirsute, as well.
Like all laboratory chimpanzees, Mave was taken from her mother at a very young age. She was immediately paired with another infant chimpanzee named Goliath. Mave was reportedly an anxious infant, and Goliath became her rock. Throughout her childhood in the lab, she would continue to rely on Goliath for support.
When LEMSIP ended its chimpanzee program in 1996, Mave, Goliath, and 30 other chimpanzees were transferred to the Wildlife Waystation in California. Mave and Goliath stayed together at the Waystation until Goliath’s death, some time around 2018. I can only imagine how devastated Mave must have been. She was soon moved to live with Willy B and Honey B, and as the Waystation began to close, this unlikely threesome came to live at CSNW.
Despite her upbringing, Mave has a high degree of social intelligence. Anyone who can successfully navigate life with Honey B and Willy B would have to, I guess. She’s the kind of chimp that can fit into almost any group—she knows who to groom, who to console, who to support, and who to put in their place. And she does this all with a quiet ease that belies her anxious childhood.
A key to her ability to make friends is the thing I consider to be her superpower: hugging. I have to admit, I sometimes tire of people asking if we wish we could hug the chimps. They are adults, they have each other and don’t need us, it’s far too dangerous…I could go on. I really don’t want to hug the chimps. But if I were a chimp? I’d be first in line for a hug from Mave. Despite the disappointing outcome of our initial effort to integrate Mave’s group with Jamie’s, I wall always remember this hug (and I’m sure Burrito will, too).
Within a couple of years of that first attempt, Mave’s group was once again being integrated with another, and this time she met someone who would take all the hugs she had to give: her new friend, Dora.
These two hit it off instantly. Sometimes I wonder if Dora somehow filled that Goliath-shaped hole in Mave’s heart.
But like so many love stories, this one was complicated, as their families didn’t always get along. And eventually the two groups had to be separated. But while the other chimpanzees at the sanctuary remain in their fixed groups, Mave and Dora (better known as Mora) get to cross back and forth between groups so that their friendship can continue.
Like her friends Willy B and Honey B, Mave had a difficult time becoming comfortable with the outdoors. But she worked hard to overcome her fears, and now she can often be found soaking up the sun on one of the platforms in her 2-acre habitat known as the Bray.
We’re grateful to Mave’s Pals for supporting her life in sanctuary. If you’d like to give Mave a (virtual) hug, consider being her Pal today!
Mave’s distinctive looks have always set her apart from the other chimps at CSNW. I think she is beautiful!
Oh, as I sit here in the dark, listening to urban coyotes sing, literally snowed in at my front door and without power since 11am (Mother Nature’s sense of humor is always demonstrated by whipping the snow around the whole house and dumping it waist high on the stoop), I know I would LOVE a floofy Mave hug! But I’ll take mine on a sunny Bray platform, thanks. I’ll bring the bananas, apples, and tomatoes, Mave.
I am pleased to read that Maeve and Beezie can still have their play dates with Dora.
MAVE!!!
YES!!!! MAVE!!!!
Best hug ever and I love her for being sooo cool and having such a big heart.
I love the top picture of Mave! What a glamor shot!
I know she has her hands full with the two Bs, but she holds her own just fine! Her relationship with Dora brings me so much joy. I really think Dora helped to fill the hole that was left by Goliath’s passing.
I always think of that photo as “Maves senior yearbook photo”.
Mave’s hugs are definitely the best! And you can immediately tell that she and Terry are half-siblings, they look so much alike.
When Terry first arrived, we jokingly used to say :
“Terry is her brother from another mother”.
Well…..THAT turned out to be true.
I have to say, I am really enjoying these individual posts on each member of your sanctuary family. I learn new details every day and some of the links included bring me back to favorite times and accomplishments. Plus, I find enlightening tidbits that I view from an entirely different perspective today. I just want to send out a big, fat “Thank you!”, to all of you caregivers for introducing and/or reintroducing each of us to each of your sanctuary family members during this month of LOVE!
The past blog post about Mave and Goliath at LEMSIP is one I’d forgotten. Perhaps because it is so disturbing I blocked it from my memory. I wonder how Mave felt being asked to leave her familiar cage environment—even when it entailed going to a pleasurable experience (and maybe for Mave it wasn’t)—and then being abandoned to your small cage existence again. Would this make you say “Enough! Leave me alone.”?
Now at CSNW, I see a new side of Mave’s reluctance in remaining inside for as long as she did, before she finally gathered up her courage to go out on the Bray. Wow! Talk about the courage to conquer your fears. Mave truly is Magnificent!! I am in awe of who she is today.
Dora! I have no words to express how grateful I am that Mave finds comfort and friendship in Dora. Dora can’t replace Goliath but she can serve as a dear companion to sponge up all of Mave’s love and emotions. Living, closely, to one person for your entire life……how did Mave move on from that?! How did she turn her past into the incredible person she is today? Wow.
Floofy, magnificent Mave! (Terry and Mave could definitely have a Floof-Off! Not sure who would win!) I love you more than I knew!
Mave, Miss Congeniality. Can’t help falling in love with her.
i too want to thank everyone for contributing to these blogs!! Their backstories are so very sad but show such spirit within them to survive their terrible beginnings!
i think of Foxie and her dolls and how
she holds them so tight maybe longing and wondering where her own babies are.
And Mave and Dora what a sweet and endearing friendship!!
i am so proud of all of them and thanks to Diana, BJ and all the caregivers who are loving these beautiful chimps!!:grin: