My first day of 2013

 On the first day of January 2013 I was cast for various tasks related to the care of chimpanzees at GAP Sanctuary in Sorocaba, including feed three baby chimpanzees, the daughters of Samantha and Guga, who were created by us since their birth.

Sofia is almost 4 years old, Sara is almost 3 and Suzi is 1 and a half year old. Now they are living with their birth mother and their adoptive father, Jimmy, who came from the zoo of Niteroi (Rio de Janeiro state).

We have to prepare two rounds of bottles a day to feed them: the first early, at 7am, and the second near to 3pm. This is not my regular job, since it is made by the keepers who are already accustomed to doing it. However, as on January 1st I was the only "employee" in the sanctuary, after 10am I had to do it.

When I was feeding Jimmy, who tried to eat separately so the babies could leave him quiet, I witnessed an act of Sofia hitting hard on the back of her sister Suzi. A kind of beat I felt on my soul…. I talked tough with Sofia, she realized that I was very angry on what she had done. I also spoke with her mother Samantha, to not allow that anymore.

Just like in a human family, mothers and daughters have their preferences and differences. Sofia loves her mother and learned to enjoy her presence. When we returned Suzi to the group, a few months ago, Samantha was fascinated with her and gave her a clear preference. Sara feels rejected by his mother and is even a little scared of her, taking refuge with her adoptive father, Jimmy, who gives her protection and preference.

Sofia is starting to get jealous of her mother\\\'s preference for Suzi and sometimes treats her with excessive rigor. In the beginning Samantha protected her, but in recent times she lets everything happen. Jimmy is the one who comes out in defense of Suzi and Sara when Sofia extrapolates, but he knows how to do this role with finesse and class.

When I took them the bottles in the afternoon, Sara and Suzi breastfed without any problems, but Sofia did not come after my call. She and Samantha were in the open part of the room, on a double-decker platform that exists there. I chose to go near both of them, to give the bottles there.  I entered, went to the first floor, Sofia pretended not to hear me and Samantha likewise. They would not go down, because they were evidently embarrassed with me, as long as I complained about their attitude with Suzi.

So I tried to use psychology. I sat there with the bottle between my legs and pretended I was crying. Then she understood that I was not angry with her and wanted her to come to me. She came and hugged me and started taking the milk. Samantha also came down and asked me to hold the bottle of milk that Sofia was drinking. I let her do it. When Sofia ended with the two bottles, one still left over, Samantha asked for it and drank it quickly.

As many already know, Samantha had three babies and had not breastfed none of them. Suzi, the youngest, was born when I and Sofia were present. Samantha did not put them in her chest after their birth, she feels grief to do this and the stimulation of the newborn does not happen, so the milk does not appear. We finished picking up her daughters and creating them until a little over 1 year old. Then they were returned for Samantha, who accepts them and begins to play the role of mother.

The extraordinary experience I had on the first day of 2013 began in the 12 hours that lasted my day in the sanctuary and allowed me to be a witness of how similar are the relationships between mother, adoptive father and daughters together, including me, as long as I feel  like a father to Samantha and to her daughters.

Maybe 2013 brings us important achievements in our struggle for recognition of the human personality of Homo (Pan) troglodytes and leads to ensure their basic rights in our societies. This small example that I reported here indicates clearly how we are so alike and the contradiction of treating them as inferior beings and away from our all-powerful species.