Do you know how chimps are treated in laboratories? Do you know what their reward is for their help in science?

Chimpanzees have contributed much to science. They flew to space before man; they helped develop hepatitis vaccine; in the name of biomedical research for the benefit of man, they endured tests, trauma, torture. Because of all the invasive and brutal experiments, only a few chimps survive to reach the ripe age of retirement, and instead of being released, they—like most laboratory animals—get euthanized. Since governments and organizations in the previous century wouldn’t shoulder the costs of maintaining retirement homes, they opted for euthanasia on the poor chimps, showing them mercy by killing them. “Mercy.”

Perhaps conscience caught up with countries around the world because policies and laws banning or severely restricting research on great apes started popping up as early as 1997. By 2013, the United States of America was the only major nation left using chimpanzees in laboratories. This situation got further alleviated in 2015 when the world’s largest financier of biomedical research, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), decided to retire all federally owned chimpanzees after constant pressure from PETA and several animal advocacy groups.

There was still the issue of how the chimps enter retirement. Thankfully, many nonprofit organizations and animal sanctuaries were ready to receive them, and Chimp Haven is one of these sanctuaries.

The description on www.ChimpHaven.org says, “Chimp Haven sits on 200 acres of prime forested land in Keithville, Louisiana, just southwest of Shreveport. With a staff of just under 50 individuals, Chimp Haven has created new beginnings for almost 300 chimpanzees.”

It’s not just food and shelter that’s provided; the staff at Chimp Haven also create games and puzzles to entertain the chimps, as well as set up aesthetics and structures that simulate the wild. These serve to reacquaint the chimps to their natural habitat after living in cages for so long. Many chimps who have medical and mental problems are watched over by veterinarians and are provided with maintenance medicine in their diet. Furthermore, Chimp Haven employs a team of behavioral experts who monitors the chimps every day for any mental illness (i.e., depression, PTSD, etc.) gained from years of suffering invasive experiments.

In an interview with National Geographic, Chimp Haven cofounder, Amy Fultz, said, “We don’t know all of the details of their personal histories, and we don’t know all that they endured. But for many of them it was a harsh life, and when they first came here, their attitude was, ‘people suck.’ That they trust us as much as they do now is phenomenal to me. They are incredibly forgiving.”

To Amy and her team in Chimp Haven and all other similar sanctuaries, I say, “You bring hope back to the world by bringing true mercy to the chimps. Merci beaucoup.”

References

Kretzer, Michelle. 2015. “Victory! NIH to Retire All Chimpanzees from Laboratories.” PETA, November 18. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.peta.org/blog/victory-nih-to-retire-all-chimpanzees-from-laboratories/.

Bale, Rachael, and Jani Actman. 2015. “Government Research Chimps Set to Retire.” National Geographic, November 19. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/20151119-chimpanzees-retired-medical-research-NIH/.

PETA. “Primates in Laboratories.” Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/primates-laboratories/.

O’Brien, Keith. 2014. “America’s Chimp Problem.” Slate, September 26. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/09/research_on_chimpanzees_should_retired_government_chimps_go_to_sanctuaries.html.

Clifton, Merritt. 2015. “Lab Chimp Retirement Upstages Steep Rise in Monkey Use.” Animals 24-7, November 22. Accessed March 23, 2017. http://www.animals24-7.org/2015/11/22/lab-chimp-retirement-upstages-steep-rise-in-monkey-use/.

Mcconnaughey, Janet. 2016. “From Lab to Sanctuary: 220 Research Chimps being Relocated (Update).” Phys, May 3. Accessed March 23, 2017. https://phys.org/news/2016-05-lab-sanctuary-chimps-relocated.html.

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