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Getting To Know Them Better

Bella started her life working in Hollywood and was in the movie Jennie when she was still an infant. She was worked in various TV shows and advertisements, including the original advertising campaign for Career Builders, an employment company seen during the Super Bowl in 2004.

She arrived at the Center in 2005 with a group of other Hollywood chimpanzees (including her older sister, Maggie, and her younger brother, Mowgli) who also were retired from the movie and television business. Today Bella’s companions include Ellie, Jacob, and Stryker. She often will have playdates with Maggie and Angel and is getting to know new friends Bentley and Kenzy.

The ever-inventive Bella makes up games that usually involve playing with water. After digging a hole in the sand, she fills a cup with water repeatedly and dumps each cupful into the hole, producing a giant wet sandpit that she then splashes around in. She also loves running through sprinklers when they are set up outside her habitat.

Bella loves exploring her large habitat and her favorite place is sitting in the cupola because she can see out over the sanctuary.

Back to Meet the Chimpanzee

Birthday

09/29/1997

Interesting Facts

  • When Bella first arrived at the sanctuary at the age of seven, she was in a group with Jessie and her infant, Stryker. Bella loved to babysit for Jessie’s baby and would carry him all over the habitat swinging him around even when he was just a few months old! If Jessie got anxious about it, Bella would always carry the baby right back to her. Now that Stryker is an adolescent, he roughhouses and plays frequently with Bella.
  • Bella is very smart and seems to enjoy challenges. During routine health checks, she has learned to present hands and feet for inspection, arms and legs for injections, ears for temperature readings, and she helpfully shows the caregivers her teeth.
  • Her favorite treats are frozen juices and frozen fruit, but she hates pumpkin seeds!

ADOPT AN APE

It costs over $25,000 a year to care for one of our apes. By symbolically adopting the ape of your choice for a one-time donation of $300 OR just $25 a month for one year, you are helping ensure the health, safety, and well-being of your orangutan or chimpanzee.

Can't Adopt?

In addition to cash donations, the Center for Great Apes is always in need of food, enrichment items, and supplies. We welcome gifts of all kinds.

Wishlist

Want to know what we need? We have a list of things we would like to have.

Center for Orangutan and Chimpanzee Conservation, Inc. dba Center for Great Apes is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, FEID 65-0444725.

© 2020 Center for Great Apes. All Rights Reserved.

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