Kippy was part of the same group as Prince and El Hadj. He was a very quiet chimp, except when it rained. When it would rain, he had this uncontrollable anger and fury. He would run around the cage, beating on it and screaming to the sky, whether it was out of joy or anger, we never knew.

In 2001, blood came into his eyes and he became blind for one afternoon. One of his eyes completely recovered, but the other one never did. He sometimes seemed to have intense migraines. We had scheduled a visit by an ophthalmologist, but he never had a chance to get a diagnosis. Kippy got sick several weeks before he died, fading away slowly. Every morning when he was sick, he would wait next to the cage, waiting for his special mix that he loved so much. He would jump and make little impatient movements while we were preparing it and when we would "finally" come over, he was so happy . . . I'll never forget that. We tried everything, all the treatment we had available to treat a bacterial, viral or fungal infection. We couldn't save him. He was in a coma for almost a week when he passed away. Rest in peace & quiet, Kippy.

Both Prince and El Hadj had originally come from a chimpanzee orphanage, which was developed in Conakry, by a Swiss woman in the late 80's. They were then transferred to an orphanage in Bissikrima. Finally, they both made the CCC their true home in 1998. El Hadj was our biggest and strongest chimpanzee. A couple of months after Prince passed away, El Hadj became sick and showed similar symptoms which Prince had suffered. We couldn't help but expect the worse. Regardless of our efforts to try and cure him, he passed away only 3 days after the onset of his illness.

El Hadj was a gentle and loving chimp. He had been the alpha male for many years; sharing his position with Robert and Alfonse, or any combination of the three. If you didn't know him, he may not have seemed too bright, but his subdued nature made him special. His lower lip usually hung open, which gave him an odd look; but behind that face, he was a very gentle and kind chimp. He sometimes seemed too big for his spirit, but I'm sure he would have grown out of this once he became a full adult. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity and we really miss him.

Estelle, the director of the CCC, first met Prince at the Bissikrima chimpanzee orphanage in 1996. He jumped right into her arms that day! He came to the CCC two years later. When Estelle took over the CCC in 1999, Prince had grown up enough to be in the teenage group. His coat started to take on that really special color that would be his until his death, a silver back chimpanzee. He had always been pale and as he was getting older, he started having freckles all around his nose. He was one of the stronger allies of Alfonse and helped him a lot when the adults and the teenagers were united into the same cage. Until his death, Prince was a faithful friend to Alfonse, as well as, all of the other chimps in that group. He had just started to rise up the hierarchy in the group, but unfortunately, his death cut him off in his prime. He loved going out in the fence for long hours of playing, grooming and hanging out with the females.

He became sick with an unknown disease only one week before his death. Despite our efforts, he died in Estelle's arms at 9 pm, May 10th, 2004. We buried him close to the adult fence so that his spirit can still be part of the group.

When a chimpanzee dies at the center, it is heartbreaking for everyone, but some deaths are harder to cope with than others. Amina is one of them.

Her story began with her confiscation. Her owner was trying to sell her in front of the most prestigious hotel in Conakry. With the help of policemen, we were able to confiscate her and bring her back to the CCC a couple of days later. She was put in quarantine with Kyo, Paco and Charlotte. She adapted very well and was a very lively little chimp. Eventually, we decided to move Kyo and Paco to the youngsters' group. Amina and Charlotte were not quite mature enough to move up to the bigger chimp group. They stayed in quarantine for 6 more months. When they were finally ready to be introduced to the youngsters' group, Charlotte integrated very easily, but Amina had more difficulties. She was often crying or depressed. She would get better for a while, then not so good for awhile.

She then started to develop a really swollen tummy. We thought that it was gas or constipation and treated her for that. She continued to get sicker and sicker. We tried several different medications including antibiotics, anti-parasitic drugs, and anti-amoebics. I took her out of the youngster group in December but she didn't get better, she got worse. Once we diagnosed her with typhoid fever with a meningitis complication, we began treating her for it and she got better. At the beginning of January we thought that she had been cured, even though she had very serious nervous sequelae [which was due to her meningitis], as well as her bed sores from her long stay in bed. She got better and started to recover her mobility on her right side. Even her left arm and bed sores healed. Unfortunately, at the beginning of February, she started getting a persistent fever that we could not get under control. She seemed to have lost her appetite too. She became weaker and eating became even more difficult. She would still have very happy times, but not as often. When she was around us and we would laugh, she would vocalize very loudly. Every hoo hoo coming from her was a small victory, but we lost the war. She passed away, with Dr. Colin at her side on February 21st, 2005.

Amina had shown all of us what being strong meant. In my eyes, she was a beautiful being and I wish we could have saved her. She had her whole life ahead of her. I hope that wherever she is, she has found her mom and is happy. We all miss her.