Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ted to be -hoo-hoo
Hantek could ‘speak’ 150 words
play.” For eight years, his life was like a delightful Disney movie. But as Chantek grew, so did the problems.
One day, he was rummaging through a bin when a student tried to pull him away. He reacted angrily and was accused of attacking the student, though Lyn claims he merely scared them.
The university would not take any chances and Chantek was sent back to the research lab, where he was locked in a cage measuring just 5ft by 5ft. Lyn had to fight for four weeks to see him. When she did, he began signing: “Mother Lyn, get the car, go home”.
Choking back tears, Lyn explained that he had to stay.
Sadly, Chantek was trapped at the centre for the next 11 years. His weight doubled to more than 35 stone.
Lyn says: “It was emotionally devastating, in terms of my scientific results and also personal, as his foster mum.”
He was moved to Zoo Atlanta and introduced to other orangutans but couldn’t accept he was the same species.
Chantek started to forget words he had learned, though he always remembered how to tell Lyn: “I love you.”
Like many apes in captivity, Chantek eventually developed heart failure and doctors could not save him.
Lyn wants a statue of Chantek at the University of Tennessee at- Chattanooga, a fitting tribute to a remarkable animal, who showed what humans and apes can achieve together.