Woman who had ‘affair’ with zoo chimpanzee asked to ‘change behaviour’ and ‘let him be a chimp’

A woman who had quite a close relationship with one of the chimpanzees in a zoo has been asked to moderate her behaviour when visiting him because their bond is preventing him from connecting with the other animals.

Adie Timmermans claimed she had been told by Antwerp zoo in Belgium not to visit Chita, a 38-year-old chimpanzee.

Speaking to Belgian news channel ATV, she said she had been visiting Chita every week for four years and had a “real relationship” with him akin to “having an affair”. She claimed she had been banned from visiting, adding: “I love that animal, and he loves me.”

She continued: “I haven’t got anything else. Why do they want to take this away from me? Other dozens of visitors are allowed to make contact with Chita, but why not me?”

Antwerp Zoo denied that it had banned Timmermans, but said it had asked her to “change her behaviour”.

A spokesperson told indy100: “Every visitor can still visit and see Chita if they want, included Mrs. Timmermans.

“We only asked her to change her behaviour if Chita is near and she tries to catch his attention or the other way around.  Chita has to focus on the other chimpanzees as much as possible, he has to be part of the group for his own wellbeing.”

According to a Dutch daily newspaper De Gelderlander, Chita was once kept as a pet but was given to the zoo 30 years ago because his behaviour was difficult to manage. Since then, he has had issues integrating into the zoo’s chimpanzee troupe and got into a fight with them in 2008.

“Because he is an exception, he was raised with humans and came to the ZOO almost 30 years ago, he is still fond of humans. But, for his own health, he has to be part of the chimpanzee group as much as possible,” the spokesperson added.

“We asked Mrs Timmermans to let him be a chimpanzee among chimpanzees and not to stay with him for too long nor attract his attention.

“We explained Mrs. Timmermans why we ask this from her (and all our visitors) and why it is better for Chita himself.  We hope she will do so in the future.”

Spokeswoman Sarah Lafaut also told ATV that being surrounded by visitors is making it difficult for Chita to integrate with the other primates.

“When Chita is constantly surrounded by visitors, the other animals ignore him and don’t consider him part of the group,” she said.

She added that Chita has been shunned by the other animals and sits alone outside zoo visiting hours because he spends too much time with humans.

“An animal that is too focused on humans is less respected by its peers,” Lafaut said.