Mave

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!