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.