'Cheating' With A Chimpanzee, This Woman Is Banned By The Zoo In Belgium

Chimpanzee illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Chi King)

JAKARTA - A woman in Belgium has reportedly been barred from visiting chimpanzees at the local zoo after developing a close bond with one of them. According to zoo officials, her 'infidelity' with the primate prevented the chimpanzee from socializing with the herd, reports ATV.

Citing Newsweek August 23, several outlets reported a woman named Adie Timmermans had been visiting Chita, a 38-year-old chimpanzee at the Antwerp Zoo, every week for the past four years. At the time, Timmermans claimed that she and Chita had developed a strong friendship.

"I love the animal and he loves me," Timmermans said in an interview with ATV, according to LadBible.

The Timmermans' relationship with Chita is reportedly in the form of waving interactions and blowing kisses to each other through the glass. On the surface, the interactions seem harmless. But zoo officials say their friendship has proved detrimental to Chita's social status with other chimpanzees.

"When Chita was constantly surrounded by visitors, the other monkeys ignored him and didn't consider him a part of the group, even though it was important to him," a zoo spokesman told ATV.

Chimpanzee illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Thomas Lersch)

"He then sat alone outside visiting hours," the spokesman continued, describing Chita's condition of being separated from the rest of the chimpanzees if there were no visitors.

In an effort to promote Chita's social welfare, the zoo allegedly banned the Timmermans from visiting him.

"I have nothing left. Why would they want to take it?" she asked in her interview with ATV.

"We were 'having an affair', I'll just say. Dozens of other visitors were allowed to make contact. Then why not me?" she wonders.

The zoo explained that Chita may have been too focused on Timmermans than to bond with her peers.

"Animals that focus too much on humans are not respected by their peers. We want Chita to be a true chimpanzee like the herd," the zoo said.

Chimpanzee illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Herusutibul)

Meanwhile, LadBible reports, Chita has spent 30 years at the zoo. Sarah Lafaut, curator at the Antwerp Zoo, Belgium before her time at the zoo, Chita was someone's pet, but ended up being 'out of control'. Even though he studied chimpanzee behavior in zoos, he still had a bond and affinity for humans. Which, it seems, is unheard of.

A 2014 study conducted by Stephen Ross and Hani Freedman showed that chimpanzees that had been separated from their mothers earlier and raised primarily by humans, exhibited 'social deprivation' years later.

"Care is the glue that holds the chimpanzee community together," Ross told Wired in 2014.

"We found that chimpanzees who were frequently around humans early in life were less likely to engage in many of these behaviors, even much later, after they had learned to live with other chimpanzees. They were simply not good at maintaining these social bonds, and that was expressed by the lower level of care," he said.

Unfortunately, Chita may need to struggle to bond with his friends. Hopefully, the zoo handlers can help him learn to adapt to life with his fellow primates.