Earlier this evening while I was working on my homework, Ross told me about a chimp named Lucy, who was domesticated. He told me that the a married couple, the Temerlins, couldn't have children and couldn't adopt decided to own a chimpanzee and they called her Lucy. They taught her how to live like a human, or tried to at least. She could sign, even! For ten years they had her, but after awhile, after she had grown and aged she was too much to handle. They thought the only thing they could do for her was to rehabilitate her back into the wild. A woman named Janis Carter took it upon herself to help ease Lucy into the wild. The Temerlins and Janis didn't know what to do, but they did leave to a nature reserve. That was Lucys first night, out in the wild, by herself. The Temerlins left after a few weeks, and Janis stayed behind. Which she thought would be for a few more nights, but instead turned out to be years. Lucy was devastated, she was losing her hair, not eating, not doing anything. After some consideration, Janis decided to move Lucy and a few other chimps to an isolated island. She then caged herself there on an island, so that the chimps would realize that they didn't need her. After awhile the other chimps left, but, Lucy stayed. Janis told her to go, but Lucy signed "come." Lucy did not want to be a chimp. She signed to Janis how hurt, sad, confused she felt. Janis took another approach, and decided to put Lucy in the cage and she would live out in the wild. Maybe Lucy would then understand that she wanted freedom and wanted to be out there and on her own then with Janis. Slowly, Lucy began to understand. She finally comprehended that she was supposed to eat leaves and forage. Janis finally knew that it was time for her to leave Lucy, and she did, but she always kept a watch on her. She didn't return to the island for a year, but kept tabs on Lucy. After a year, she returned and found Lucy. They reunited for a small time and before she left, Lucy grabbed Janis in an embrace and held on to her, but in a way of letting Janis know that she understood why she did what she did and its all okay now.
A year later Janis went back, and they only found Lucys body, just a skeleton. Laying next to the cage they both lived years ago. It appeared that Lucy had been skinned, by poachers. They thought that Lucy approached the poachers because she was accustomed to humans and approaching humans was never a threat to her. Unfortunately, she was wrong and that is how her life ended.
That story was so heartbreaking, but such a story! I posted the picture of Janis and Lucy and the hug that they shared because it's one of those picture that just needed to be seen.
