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| Sunday, 19 March 2006 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Sanju's true story by Shanika Sriyananda
The answers to these questiones, which seem more like the tragic beginnings of a Jeffery Archer or a movie, can be found in the 'life story' of the baby 'Sanju' and his mother Pinky. A baby boy ... for a young mother, who had her first delivery, is a God's gift. Not so for Pinky. A baby boy ... is a bundle of joy for a mother, who wishes to see her son following his father's foot-steps. But not so with Pinky. For a baby... mother's warmth is his pride and strength to be strong in this world. But not so for Sanju. For a baby ... the mother's first drops of breast milk full of colostrum, is a weapon to fight against many childhood diseases. But not so, for baby Sanju. His fate and her fate have taken different paths separating them and breaking their bondage. Months have now passed and still Pinky refuses this bundle of joy who is now learning to stand up holding what ever that comes his way. His mother, suffering from, perhaps, post natal stress, stays in isolation and even refuses to mix with her other female counterparts. Born at the Dehiwala Zoo, Sanju however, is not so unfortunate and is now having a comfortable life, better than that of a human baby, in the same situation. "Now he tries to talk", grins Palitha Perera, who looks after Sanju. The father of three children Palitha is also the 'mother' of three chimpanzees born at the Zoo. Being the proud 'mom' who fed, washed and bathed two other chimps in the past -Tony and Niki- Palitha says that baby chimps are very intelligent and that its easy to teach them 'lessons'. " Tony is one of the main attractions of the Zoo. He performs the chip show every evening". It is 3 pm and Palitha is getting ready to feed Sanju, who has had a cod-liver oil massage an hour ago. Sanju is grumbling about being inside the cot, which is a wooden box covered with a mosquito net. According to Palitha, it will take another three-months for Sanju to be stable enough to stand on his own. "Chimpanzees are weak and helpless at birth. When they are nine-months old, the baby chimps will totally pull away from their mothers. They will chew and swallow food when they are four-months- old", says Menake Pathirage, Education and Research Assistant of the Zoo. He says that a baby chimpanzee will grow to about four and a half feet, and will weigh 150 pounds when it becomes an adult. The baby chimp, who was born before Tony, was killed by his father. " This may be the reason that Pinky, Sanju's mother refuses to keep the baby with her. She is frightened when the male comes", adds Menake. Believed often to be man's closest ancestral relative, these chimpanzee babies at the Zoo, survive thanks to the human breast milk given to them during the first few days. No wonder they form a special bond with humans. Palitha says his 'big sons' - Tony and Niki- still try to come and hug him when he passes their cage. Sanju still 'warded' at the animal hospital shows signs of turning into a star attraction at the Dehiwala Zoo, pretty soon. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
What will be the fate of a baby when the mother refuses him soon after
his arrival into the world ? Can a mother 'just wait' while her baby cries
for his mother's milk ? 
