I’ve been trying for awhile to collect images of all the chimps in our “portrait studio” — it’s a spot on a bench in the front rooms right next to the window, which allows for the best lighting and background for close-ups of the chimps.
When the chimps first arrived, they spent a couple days in the front rooms before shifting into the playroom (to ease the transition into a big, expansive room—probably scary after years inside tiny cages) and so many of our photos of the chimps when they first arrived are on that bench. For some of them that was the first time in decades they’d had a chance to look out a window.
Anyway, a few months ago I complied some of the more recent portrait studio photos and compared them to the photos of the chimps from those first few days in sanctuary. The changes are so extraordinary! Missy, however, was absent from that post because we didn’t have a recent photo of her in that spot. She is always on the move and doesn’t sit on the bench long enough for us to grab the camera and get a good close-up. The other day, finally, Katelyn was able to snap a couple of quick photos of her before she jumped off. So, without further ado, I present you with Missy’s before-and-after comparison:
Missy, a couple days after the chimps’ arrival:
Missy, over six years later:
