海外「サンタさんがチンパンジーにプレゼント」

The other day, a newspaper article on the care of elderly animals introduced chondroitin to the chimpanzee “Mimmy” at Tama Zoo and received surprising inquiries from many people. Let me introduce the background.

　Mimi is a chimpanzee who has been around since the opening of Tama Zoo and is now estimated to be 56 years old. Chimpanzees live between 40 and 50 years old, so you can see how long Mimi lives. In addition, it is the oldest chimpanzee among the females of chimpanzees raised in Japan (328 in 2011 data).

　Since January 2011, Mimi has been walking with her feet covered, but since January 2011, she has started walking without touching the ground with her left fingertips, and soon after that, she has started walking with both hands supported and both feet swinging back and forth.

　Because of the structure of the chimpanzee house, she had to go down four steep stairs to get out of the bedroom, but it took her a long time to get down. So I moved them to a room with handrails, but it didn’t work very well and I hardly ate any food. Therefore, I decided to break down the concrete wall between the two rooms and set up a door so that I could go back and forth barrier-free, so that I could stay indoors until the pain in my legs disappeared. I was worried that I might suffer from it for a long time, but in February, when the warm weather gradually increased, I was able to go out every day. I have been administering painkillers and herbal medicines for the past two months.

　Fortunately, it didn’t take a long time, but if I didn’t do anything in the future, I would spend every winter indoors, which could lead to a vicious circle. Therefore, we decided to give chondroitin tablets, a health food that is said to be effective in actively taking them outdoors and relieving joint pain, as a trial.

　Chondroitin started to be administered immediately after another “pendulum walk” in the autumn of 2011 when the cold weather grew. Then, even in the full-fledged winter, I could go out to the playground every day without “pendulum walking.” I think there are many reasons why Mimi has recovered her energy, but if the placebo effect (feeling effective by taking a drug that has no pharmacological effect) doesn’t work in chimpanzees, chondroitin may have had some effect. However, verification is required in the future.　　

　As it became colder in 2012, chondroitin administration to Mimi resumed. You may not be out on cold winter days, but please come and see your healthy grandmother, Mimi.