LOCKED IN A CAGE WITH ANGEL

During one of my visits with Sosa and Angel, I have an opportunity to spend time with Angel alone in her cage.  When  she realizes that the door is unlocked she makes a bee line for it. I rush over and grab the door, but I am no match for her strength and she gets out. However there is a fence around the perimeter of her cage and that gate is locked.  The owner puts her back into her cage and says that he will have to lock me in with her and asks if that is OK.  I agree. However, the image of her chomping down on that girl's hand goes through my mind. A bite which went right through the hand and required many stitches.  We spend the afternoon grooming each other and bonding.

On another occasion when I was locked in the cage with Sosa and Angel, Sosa would go give Angel a push and then come running back to me for protection. Beginning to notice that Sosa is afraid of his owner and am told that when Sosa made a move to bite someone during one his photo sessions that the owner picked him up by the ear and swung him around.  I begin to wonder whether this abuse is just an isolated incident or something that happens regularly.  I begin to suspect that the owner feels that the best way to control Chimpanzees is through fear. Once read somewhere a trainer saying  that he would rather face down a lion than an enraged chimpanzee. 

One day,  Angel came over grabbed my hat, swished it around in her bucket of water and then put it back on my head.  She stood back, studied me, decided that she wanted  my hat, so she took it off my head and put it on her own head.  When it was time for me to go, I had to get my hat, so I sneaked up on her and grabbed it.  Angel  was so angry, she came  towards me stomping and hooting, but stopped short of grabbing the hat back or ANYTHING  else. The next time I went up I took Angel her own hat. She was so stoked.  I will put up a photo soon of Angel wearing her hat.