Maya was born at The Institute for Primate Studies Inc., in Norman, Oklahoma and then sold to The University of Montreal to be used in cross fostering and cognition studies.  After the research ended, she was donated to the Quebec City Zoo where she lived for 25 years. Maya is one of the lucky ones really, as she did not end up in a bio medical research facility. When the zoo closed, she was rescued by Fauna.

Date of birth: July 8, 1977

Personality: Maya seems shy at first, but she is actually very sociable, always visiting and making new friends. She has some nice relationships with most of the chimpanzees at Fauna preferring them to humans,(unlike Sophie with whom she has spent her life who seems to prefer  humans). Maya will choose to stay up high and far away from the humans, unless she must interact to have one of her requests met.

Maya is complex and a challenge to figure out. She is very smart and knows how to handle a lot of different difficult situations. She has some great social skills which she most likely acquired from being the one who was left out so much in the dynamic between Sophie and Spock. It seems Maya is always thinking about something and always has a plan. Her ability to think things out seems to be what has made her able to go into different groups here at Fauna with no difficulty.

Maya is quite tough and while she does not back down, she also does not really look for trouble. She has a temper for sure, and can be aggressive, but only to get what she needs or if provoked.
If there is a fight between chimps,  Maya will be there, perhaps in it, but afterward she is sure to go to everyone to make friends. This is one of the most important social moves a chimpanzee can make.
Rather early on, Maya managed to spend a week with Binky and ended up with him liking her and her not being frightened of him at all. This is a good example to show what a personality she has. Binky is a lot of work, and she was able to not only manage him but actually make friends and accomplish what was necessary to live near him.

Maya does, however, have some problems with stress which have been expressed in self mutilation of her foot. Turning on yourself as a way of coping with stress is sadly a reality of captivity for many chimps. It is always hard for chimpanzees to contain their frustration and Maya seems to have a lot she holds in. We have seen a huge improvement in her now that she has so many new chimpanzee friends. She has not injured her foot at all since she has been at Fauna.

 

Favorite Activities: Socializing is what you will find Maya doing the most. She loves to hang out with the girls, and has a relationship with most of the guys. So grooming is really high on her list of priorities. Of course, she too also loves the hose and playing with water.

It is pretty amazing to watch Maya when she gets her brunch or dinner bag, which usually has an assortment of fruits and vegetables, a juice box, chewable vitamins, some berries or nuts and even a toy surprise. Maya takes her bag after everyone else because she had learned that she must let others take theirs first. She takes it to a nice quiet place, peeks inside, sorts through all the stuff, then takes things in the order she wishes. It is great to see Maya making choices. This is one of her favorite parts of the day.

Favorite Foods: She adores apples, grapes, juice, bananas and almost all fruits. Like a lot of chimpanzees, she really knows how to choose the best and sweetest fruit. Often we start to think that someone does not like a particular fruit, but when it is in season or when it is just that perfect ripeness, they will choose it from the trolley for days.