Martina

Resident

Rescued: 1996

Martina was born on January 21, 1991, at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), a biomedical research laboratory in New York. Like many chimpanzees bred for research, she was separated at birth from her mother and raised in a nursery-like setting. Sweet-natured Martina bonded closely with her human caregivers at the lab, and was still being taken to their homes well after other juveniles had outgrown this sort of arrangement.

When LEMSIP closed its operations in 1996, Martina was one of the few fortunate individuals who found sanctuary (most were sent to another biomedical research facility). She came to the PRC with six other LEMSIP chimps, all a few years younger, and was housed with them as something of a “big sister.” 

Once the LEMSIP gang was integrated with the older Dahlonega Five chimps, Martina found her high position a bit uncertain. Donald, the dominant adult male in his group, was quite interested in this adolescent newcomer, but his older female companions were less enthusiastic about making her acquaintance. Victoria was especially jealous that Martina was receiving all of Donald’s attention (he even let Martina make off with some of his food). Victoria would never take out her frustrations in front of Donald, but when he moved to a different room she would swoop in and poke, slap, and otherwise heckle Martina. It took years for the relationship between these two to cool down. 

Today, Martina continues to bridge the gap between the three remaining older chimps and the four remaining younger chimps from the lab. She is a very smart girl and uses her social standing to her advantage, which can come in handy when it applies to food or items she wants from other chimps – even Donald! Martina is also eager to interact with the caregivers, and if asked, she will gladly retrieve an item (such as a broken toy) from an area of the enclosure or even from another chimp. Because she is now the alpha female of the group, they will usually give up the item to Martina even if they’d rather keep it. Martina loves shoes! She inspects the feet of everyone who passes by and enjoys when the wearer lifts their foot up so she can get a better view. One of Martina’s favorite foods is lettuce – when we give the chimps their breakfast or dinner, she can be seen gathering a few romaine heads or bundles of kale to take up to the tunnel for a pre-meal salad.