Remembering Tulip: Staff says good-bye

Fri Jun 15, 2007

Care Staff remembers our "Little Princess"

photo by Amy Fultz

Tulip, seen here enjoying the climpbing structures in her play yard, passed June 14th, 2007 from congenital kidney disease.

Tulip arrived at Chimp Haven September 2005 after being retired at a very early age due to her medical condition. Even though she had been sick for many years, Tulip was able to deal with her illness and enjoyed spending time in the forested habitat with members of her group.

She had many friends at the sanctuary and was reunited with many of the chimpanzees she had known for a long time. Sheena, a life-long friend, was waiting on one of the climbing structures when she arrived and the two spent most of their time together. Tulip was also reunited with her mother, Betsy, last year and the two were also seen spending time together.

Known to many at the sanctuary as the “Little Princess,” Tulip was spoiled by both her care givers and the others in her group. She was the youngest among the 19 chimpanzees in her group and as such, the older chimpanzees let her get away with a lot of things that they would not have allowed the other chimpanzees to get away with. This included taking food from other chimpanzees and getting a lot of attention from others without getting jealous.

Tulip was also a budding artist and loved to paint. She preferred to use only plastic children’s paint brushes and loved the colors purple and pink. While painting, she would use the brushes not only to create great works of art, but put some of the paint on her lips, giving the illusion that she had on lipstick.  (click here to watch Tulip create one of her works of art)

She was greatly loved by her care givers, sponsors, donors and the community that visited the sanctuary during Chimpanzee Discovery Days. She had many close friends in her group, including her best friends Brenda and Sheena, who were with her and provided comfort to her until she passed.

“Gone but not forgotten, we hold Tulip’s memory near and dear to our hearts, and we are grateful for the time she was able to spend at the sanctuary free to roam the forest and spend her final days with friends and family.”