Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Sat 04 Apr 2007Ape crusaderLynn Clifford couldn't bear it when watching documentaries was the closest she could get to wildlife. So she saved up and set off for a chimp sanctuary in Africa, she tells Arminta WallaceEck, eck, eck, Lynn Clifford says. Come again? It's Thursday evening, and the Harbourmaster Bar, in Dublin's Financial Services Centre, is hopping. Around us conversations are going strong in at least three languages. Nobody is going to turn a hair at another one - even if it is fluent chimpanzee. The "eck" sound, Clifford explains, means: "Wow! It's you! Great to see you." A warning call is, as she demonstrates, completely different. "When you say that to a chimp it will stop, look around and run up a tree. Which is, usually, what you want them to do."