Everybody needs a mom but things are a little bit more complicated in the animal kingdom. Born in Gaziantep Zoo, the biggest in Turkey, Can the Chimp was not accepted by his mother. Growing up among other chimps in the zoo, Can always felt the lack of a mother and the zoo started giving him special family treatment.
Named by Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin, Can is currently taken care of in a cage that was built next to the cage that his family resides in. As he was and is deprived of his mother's milk, a team of experts feed him five times a day with protein rich food.
Can is cared by a special team and the chimp sees the head of the team as his mother. Although Can is not accepted by his family, the zoo keeper keeps him close to his family as chimps are known to hurt themselves if they cannot bond with their family members. During the day, Can and his family, especially his mother, interact with each other but in most cases, Can's mother acts like she can't hear or see her offspring.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Nature Life Protection Directorate head Celal Özsöyler said they are working hard for his family to accept Can as a member of the family. "With the special therapies we give to Can, he is now able to make physical contact with his mother and father. Once the therapy goes into the second phase, we will leave Can with his family. We are monitoring Can's mother's reactions very carefully. Whenever she accepts him, we will put them into the same cage. We hope to move them to their new home in April," Özsöyler added.
