A Sentience Article from All-Creatures.org




John's Lesson for Humanity

FROM Melanie Blake
Facebook posting, April 10, 2022

John looked at the banana, looked at me and without a single thought he broke the banana in half , pushed half through the cage to me to eat and ate the other half himself. 

Chimp John

A lesson for humanity... we disregard animals as being inferior, beneath us; we exploit every species for our needs and unnecessary wants yet they are our teachers. They are the purest souls.

"Meet John."

Today I experienced something that brought a tear to my eyes and a lump to my throat, but this isn’t a story of horror or devastation it’s a lesson, a lesson we ALL need to ensure we take on board and share.

As you all know I took a team into a zoo to aid in the care of their animals, a zoo which has been behind Russian lines with little to no food and staff for 5 weeks. We came here to ease the enormous burden that had been taken on by the handful of volunteers who remained despite the constant dropping of bombs and gun fire that has surrounded them every day.

Today I went and sat with a chimpanzee named John. Due to the temperature he requires and the gas supply not working he has been moved to a smaller room that can be heated to the required temperature he requires via a generator. As I sat with him I talked to him, stroked his hands, ears, and back, all at his request along with also a couple of kisses through the cage.

But what happened next will stay with me for life, a simple gesture, at the perfect moment can become the greatest of all and this most certainly was the case for me.

John's keeper brought him a banana, placed it in his bowl and stepped away while I was still sat on the floor next to John, still stroking his back through the cage door. John noticed this, stood up, grabbed the banana and sat back down next to me. John looked at the banana, looked at me and without a single thought he broke the banana in half , pushed half through the cage to me to eat and ate the other half himself.

Despite the fear of bombs and bullets, lack adequate food for 6 weeks and been displaced into an area that makes him sad he STILL wanted to give half of the little he had to me!

This is a lesson for all of humanity, when the world is so content in death and destruction the magnificent animals of our world continue to teach us lessons of love and compassion. The very lesson that if heard would prevent the atrocities we are seeing in the Ukraine and around the world daily!

I know you're going to ask questions about moving him and if it was possible it would of been done please trust me on that, over the next few days I’m going to work on trying to get some form of heating sorted for his large enclosure.


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