Lucy, a chimpanzee crucial in breaching a gap of scientific understanding, was one of the many chimpanzees studied in a human environment. Eventually, Lucy's strength became too dangerous to house in such an environment, so she and others like her were shipped to a remote island. A scientist named Janice Carter lived in a cage to study them safely.
While most of the other chimpanzees moved on from their human lives, Lucy had more trouble. Her survival was difficult, as her situation could be compared to forcing a human child to fend for itself in the wild. Eventually though, when her disconnect was enough, Janice left, visiting less frequently. On her final visit, she walked onto the island, she found Lucy's bones, excluding hands, as Lucy had been poached. It is believed she was poached because she had been raised human, went to interact with other humans, and was treated instead as a chimpanzee.
Lucy taught us that the genetic gaps between chimpanzees and humans are very minimal. She also taught us how much of an impact socialization has, as her wanting to interact led to her downfall. After this story, my perspective on chimps has evolved to one of admiration, as they are not so different from us as we think. Even though the experiment ended in death, science benefited greatly from it, so I believe it was worthwhile. Lucy's end makes me feel upset because even though ideologically, Lucy was similar to us, it did not matter in the face of ultimate destruction.
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