Sanctuaries/Facilities
After spending all or most of their lives in a cage with cement under their feet, four walls surrounding them and a ceiling over their heads we figured four or five of them might venture onto the island. But, without exception they all met the challenge and rushed through the open doors.

          —Dr. Carole Noon, Save the Chimps

Sanctuaries: restitution for a fortunate few

Chimpanzees who have been confined in laboratories and used for research deserve to live out the remainder of their lives in dignity and peace. However, they can never truly be free. Sanctuary can provide them with as much relative freedom as possible in captivity. These small privileges must seem like nothing short of miracles for chimpanzees who have spent decades in labs.

Captive chimpanzees cannot be reintroduced safely into the wild. Sanctuaries—where they live in groups in spacious facilities with free access to outdoor islands, enclosures, or overhead "skywalks"—offer these noble beings refuge and some semblance of freedom. Since chimpanzees in captivity can live for more than 50 years, sanctuaries can offer years of safety, comfort, and joy for all those held in laboratories. Approximately 90 percent of chimpanzees currently in laboratories are elderly, and many have been in labs for more than 40 years. Sadly, their precious time is running out.

Over the last eighty, chimpanzees have been captured in Africa or bred in laboratories to be used for research. In the last decade, hundreds have been retired to sanctuaries, leaving about 500 remaining in U.S. labs.

Free to be a chimpanzee

Chimpanzee walking on island
Save The Chimps sanctuary (Photo: © NEAVS)

For the lucky chimpanzees who make it into a sanctuary, their changes in health, well-being, and behavior are profound. In a sanctuary setting, they finally have some sense of free will. They enjoy the freedom to move around and make choices about food, friends, and play. Most importantly, they are finally free from the constant worry—faced daily in the lab—that someone will do something to hurt them yet again.

Like Jeannie, some chimpanzees are so traumatized by their years in research that a full recovery never occurs, although years elapse. While their progress is an inspiration to everyone who knows them, frequent setbacks can put them in a complete panic—like humans who have endured extreme trauma.

Like Dana, others enjoy their new lives immediately—embracing new friends and eagerly exploring their new world—free at last to be a chimpanzee.

True sanctuaries

Facilities considered by NEAVS/Project R&R to be true sanctuaries are those that:

  • Are dedicated to educating the public and ending the use of apes in research, entertainment, and other exploitative industries
  • Do not permit breeding to ensure that the cycle of captivity is not perpetuated into another generation
  • Never sell or trade chimpanzees for use in research or any other purpose
  • Provide their chimpanzees a permanent home
  • Allow chimpanzees a daily life that includes a primary diet of ample fresh fruit and vegetables, social interaction, access to outdoors, housing, and care policies that are determined by their needs and best interests

Even at the best sanctuaries, no chimpanzee can ever truly be free. We can never give back what was taken from them: the right to be free and live autonomously. This reality makes it imperative to do right by them, even within the boundaries we have imposed on them.

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