Save the Chimps

Save the Chimps, the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world, provides care to 287 chimpanzees rescued from invasive research and other forms of exploitation. Save the Chimps cares for these chimpanzees at two separate locations; a temporary sanctuary within a former biomedical research lab located in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and at a sophisticated 200 acre chimpanzee-centric sanctuary located in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Save the Chimps was established in 1997 in response to the U.S. Air Force's announcement that it was getting out of the chimpanzee research business. At the end of the long giveaway process, most of the chimpanzees, described by the USAF in a Wall Street Journal article as "surplus equipment," were sent to the Coulston Foundation in Alamogordo, NM, a biomedical laboratory with the worst record of any lab in the history of the Animal Welfare Act. Save the Chimps sued the Air Force on behalf of the chimpanzees given to the Coulston Foundation. After a year-long struggle, Save the Chimps gained permanent custody of 21 chimps, survivors and descendants of those captured in Africa in the 1950s and used by the Air Force in the original NASA "chimpanaut" program.

In September 2002, the Coulston Foundation, with governmental funding withdrawn due to violations of the Animal Welfare Act, was on the verge of bankruptcy. Frederick Coulston contacted Save the Chimps Founder Dr. Carole Noon and offered to sell the laboratory land and buildings to Save the Chimps, and "donate" all its 266 chimpanzees. With the future of the primates in jeopardy, Save the Chimps received a grant of $3.7 million from the Arcus Foundation to purchase the New Mexico laboratory. Additional funding from the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, Doris Day Animal League, Friends of Washoe, In Defense of Animals and New England Anti-Vivisection Society (and others) made this the largest ever single effort on behalf of captive chimpanzees.

Immediately after taking possession of the lab, Save the Chimps modified the Alamogordo facility into a healthier and happier environment for the chimpanzees, including fresh food, enlarged cages, enrichment activities, compassionate caregivers and, most importantly, the establishment of social groups by introducing the chimps to one another and allowing them to form family units. After the acquisition of the Coulston Lab the Florida facility was expanded to accommodate the additional chimps. Save the Chimps Florida sanctuary consists of 12 three-acre islands, each linked to a housing and care center by a land bridge. The natural environment gives the chimpanzees a comfortable home in which to socialize.

External links

* [http://www.savethechimps.org Save the Chimps]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/magazine/24CHIMPS.html?pagewanted=all Planet of the Retired Apes "The New York Times"]
* [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/297/5590/2191b Coulston Chimps Head To Retirement "Science Magazine"]
* [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0814_wirespacechimps.html America's Space Chimps Retired to Florida Refuge "National Geographic News"]
* [http://www.primatesworld.com/SpaceMonkeys.html Space Monkeys: The Final Frontier "Primates World"]
* [http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/spacechimp_010717.html Descendents of Space Chimps Retire to Florida "Space Magazine"]
* [http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/02/11/chimps1102.html Sanctuary Buys Coulston Chimps "Animal People News"]