Sanctuary

I’ve wanted to write about my admiration for Cy for some time but I can never find the words.

I guess I’ll start here: Yesterday, we added Terry to the intro group, along with Rayne and George. Terry and George had a few brief scuffles during their earlier meetings, which is one of the reasons why we chose to add Terry now—so that they can work out their differences before Terry has even more of his old group mates to back him up. The first few hours were quiet, with Terry making some awkward invitations to George to play and George politely declining out of an abundance of caution. But just before dinner, Jamie’s group began to fight, and the noise led Terry to display, raking a plastic bowl on the ground and banging on the walls. At first, George quietly observed and stayed out of Terry’s way. But a male chimp can only stay silent for so long, and he eventually joined in with his own double-kick to the window glass. Terry didn’t appreciate that.

In established groups, male chimps display side-by-side all the time, but it’s clear that many members of Cy’s group are out to teach George a lesson early on: You have not earned the right to display yet. As soon as George’s feet hit the floor, Terry screamed and ran after him. Rayne followed close behind. George was, for the first time, learning how it feels to be outnumbered.

As George was chased from the playroom to the greenhouse and back, Cy ran by his side, throwing his own body into the breach every time George was cornered. He picked Rayne up and threw her to the side. He dove to grab Terry’s feet as he nearly slipped away in pursuit of George. He was a superhero, again.

Terry and Rayne got the message and left George alone. Or maybe they said all they needed to say. But when it was over, George was virtually unscathed, and Cy had sustained a deep canine gash to the wrist. Throughout the night, Cy stayed by George’s side.

Why would Cy do this? To be sure, there are often selfish explanations for seemingly altruistic acts. I scratch your back so that you may one day scratch mine, right? But the way Cy acts reflects something deeper, something that I can only describe as a sense of moral duty. For whatever reason, Cy is duty-bound to sacrifice himself for the benefit of those more vulnerable than him. And this is not only an admirable trait, but a crucial component of any attempt to integrate a lone, socially naive chimp like George.

Today was much calmer, though George continued to show some understandable unease with the volatility of his new group mates (as seen in today’s video). But he had Cy to lean on. And Terry, in his own awkward way, showed that he didn’t hold a grudge. By the end of the day, they would all be grooming in the greenhouse, held together by a reluctant hero.

I’ve loved and felt a strong bond with a lot of nonhuman animals before. But I look up to Cy. And I wish there were more people, both human and non-, like him in the world.