This rescue chimp doesn’t go anywhere without her troll doll

Meet Foxie, a 40 year old rescue chimp who is never seen without her toy troll.

Foxie used to be a breeder chimp in a medical research facility, and had her four babies taken away from her for drugs testing just days after they were born.

It’s thought that the trolls she treasures now are substitutes for the babies she was denied before she was rescued by the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in 2008.

Co-director of the facility, Diana Goodrich, didn’t think Foxie would be interested in playing with the troll the first time she brought one in for the chimps.

“Shortly after the chimpanzees arrived, I brought a troll doll for them to play with,” she explained.

Foxie and two of her dolls [Caters]

"I was not thinking that Foxie would like the doll because she really didn’t play with any of the other toys that we had given the chimps, but as soon as she saw the troll doll, she was in love.

“She now has hundreds! All of Foxie’s dolls come from her fans and friends.

"Sometimes people send their own collections of troll dolls leftover from when they were young, or they find them on ebay or in garage sales.

"She carries them with her, often on her back or in her mouth. She plays with them - throwing them up in the air and catching them again.

"She tosses them to her human caregivers and we give them back to her as a little game.

"The chimps other chimps sometimes rip the troll’s hair off, but Foxie still likes them bald, and we’ve used the hollow space in troll doll bodies to put treats or smoothie in for the chimps to enjoy.”

Shake, rattle and troll [Caters]

Foxie now lives happily at the Washington-based Sanctuary with the hundreds of dolls that have been sent to her by fans and well-wishers.

All images: Caters