Television to Take Unprecedented Look at Chimpanzees Rescued from Labs

Chimpanzees will take center stage at 8pm Sunday night, November 5th, as PBS launches its upcoming 25th season of NATURE. Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History, directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Allison Argo, features footage from the Fauna Foundation, Save the Chimps, and the Center for Great Apes, giving millions of Americans a first-hand glimpse at the lives of former U.S. research chimpanzees now living in sanctuaries. Gloria Grow, founder and director of Fauna, and honorary chair of Project R&R: Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories, was delighted by the response from members of the press at a recent Los Angeles screening at the Television Critics Association. “It is an honor that NATURE chose this film to premier its 25th season,” said Ms. Grow. “The chimpanzees are the stars of this film that poignantly tells their stories.”

The documentary is being hailed by Project R&R and its growing coalition. Project R&R is a national campaign of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) that works to end chimpanzee research in the US and release the approximately 1,200 chimpanzees who are in U.S. laboratories. NEAVS’ expertise was made available throughout the making of the film. Project R&R advisory board members include world-renowned chimpanzee experts such as Jane Goodall, PhD; Roger Fouts, PhD; Gloria Grow; Carole Noon, PhD; and others. Project R&R is currently focusing on the release of the 21 oldest chimpanzees in U.S. laboratories — those born on or before 1960. Inquiries revealed that some of the oldest chimpanzees have recently died, fueling an urgency to get the remaining elders into sanctuary before it is too late.

“Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History courageously shows the realities of captivity and challenges our responsibility to these great apes who are so like us,” says Theodora Capaldo, EdD, president of NEAVS, and director of Project R&R. “The film promises to enlighten and educate the public. It guarantees to inspire serious dialogue and change for our next of kin. It is time.”

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Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History preview
More information on the film from NATURE
Behind the scenes with director Allison Argo