In loving memory of
Mika

About Me

In Loving Memory

1982-2025

Mika was a confident, friendly female on Alice’s island, who greeted caregivers with an enthusiastic smile at every meal. “She was one of the quieter, gentler chimps, who looked at you as if she was looking into your soul,” says Jamie Dowling.

After her rescue in 2002, Mika got a new lease on life. She loved to wear sunglasses, eat any enrichment containing peanut butter and jelly, and soak up the sun with her BFF Tash, whom she had known since the age of five.

“When Mika first arrived, she refused to walk on wet grass–instead, she would sprint and take a flying leap to avoid it,” recalls care staffer Heather Graybush. “Can chimps fly? I think Mika did!”

This reserved chimp also appreciated heavy metal. “When a caretaker was rocking out with his earbuds in, Mika stared intently and pointed,” says Graybush. “So he took out the earbud so she could hear the song, and it honestly looked as if Mika was headbanging along to the song and enjoying it.”

She may have been quiet, but her absence speaks volumes and is deeply felt by all who knew her.

______________________________________________________

I am a confident, friendly female in Alice’s Group. I have a good heart, and my caregivers can always count on an enthusiastic greeting and smile from me at every meal! It’s amazing that I have such a positive outlook on life, because not only was I taken from my mother Gail a mere 12 hours after birth, I was used heavily in biomedical research protocols. Between the ages of 2-8 alone, I was subjected to nearly 200 blood draws and 21 liver biopsies.

Thankfully, all of that is behind me now. My favorite things are sunglasses and enrichment that has peanut butter or jelly. I am almost always found in the company of my BFF Tash, and together we spend our days soaking up the sun or browsing for goodies on our island.